


Reconnecting

by EquinoxWolf



Category: Deltarune (Video Game), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/F, F/M, Family Drama, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Interspecies Relationship(s), Long Lost/Secret Relatives, Mild Language, Multi, Other, Racism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:00:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 37,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24839581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EquinoxWolf/pseuds/EquinoxWolf
Summary: Kris has not seen his human sisters since he was a small child. When they seek him out to reconnect, Kris asks for a friend’s help to give him strength. As a broken family pieces themselves together, they realise that their lives are more fragmented than they first thought.
Relationships: Asriel Dreemurr/Frisk, Chara/Mad Mew Mew (Undertale), Kris/Susie (Deltarune)
Comments: 39
Kudos: 107





	1. New Message Received

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to Mister. Enigma on FanFiction.Net for prompting the idea for this story. Originally, I had planned for a darker series of events featuring Kris, Frisk and Chara as siblings. However, I decided against it before putting pen to paper. After a long time of struggling, this version of the story popped into my head and I've hit the ground running ever since.
> 
> The following is a non-profit, fan-made fiction. Undertale and Deltarune are both owned by Toby Fox, with credit given to their contributing artists and supporters. Please support the official release.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris receives a new message from someone who he never expected to see again. When she asks to reconnect after years apart, does he have the courage to meet her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Family is what you make of it, defined not by blood nor circumstance. It is a choice to love, and a privilege to be loved.

It was 8:34PM when Kris flopped onto his bed and opened the MyShare app on his phone. There wasn’t much time to mess around, he mused with a hollow sigh. His mother never let Kris use the wi-fi until he finished his homework for the day, and Ms Alphys had gone overboard again with her latest assignment. Maybe if he was lucky, Kris’s wall would be full of junk posts not worth reading and he could squeeze a few games in before bedtime.

Upon logging in, Kris saw the number five next to his inbox. He opened the list of new messages. One was from Susie, asking for help with the assignment. Two others were long streams of memes and bad jokes from MK and Snowy. Kris’s father, Asgore, sent a picture of the saplings that had just sprouted in his flower shop. There wasn’t anything from his brother, Asriel, though. Kris blew a sullen puff through his nose.

He didn’t recognise the name against the last message. ‘ _Frisk._ ’ His mother always warned Kris about opening emails from strangers. However, she said a lot of things that he was getting tired of listening to. Kris opened the message.

“ _Kris? Is that really u? OMG it’s been so long! How r u?_ ”

Kris frowned. Was he supposed to know this person? Aside from Asriel, Kris couldn’t think of many people he had not seen for any great length of time. Except for…

He glanced at the profile picture next to the message. He tapped to enlarge it. A human girl smiled at him, surrounded by a ring of daisies from a filter. She had brown hair and golden skin, same as Kris. His heart stopped in his chest. A green icon showed that Frisk was online. Kris’s thumbs smashed across the keyboard.

“ _Francine?!_ ” Three dots danced on the screen for a few moments as the reply was written.

“ _Its Frisk now. But yeah, its me!_ _😊 OMG where r u?”_

The phone shook in Kris’s hands. It was really Francine… It was his older sister! His actual blood sister! Kris hadn’t seen or heard from her since…

_Visions flashed. The three of them; Kris, Francine, and Charlotte. They played at the park every day. Their mother called them home for supper, smiling as always. Their father lifted him onto his shoulder. Laughing. Happy._

_Two beds beyond a window they could not pass through. White sheets pulled over their parents’ faces while they slept. Francine was crying. Charlotte stood as still as a statue. There were men and women in white coats and dark suits. They knelt in front of Kris and his big sisters. He didn’t understand what was happening._

_They weren’t taken home. The men in suits took them to a strange house. Lots of strange kids lived there. Kris was scared. He wanted his mommy and daddy. They stayed at the house for a long time. Lots of adults came to visit, talking with the caretakers and other children. Some of them spoke to Kris. They were nice. The caretakers told Kris he was going home with one of the adults. Charlotte and Francine were held back in the doorway, crying and screaming as Kris was placed into the car._

_The new house was big with a green garden. Kris didn’t like it. He wanted to see his sisters. He cried to his new mother but all she did was hug him. He then cried to his father. Kris’s face suddenly hurt. He learned quickly never to ask his father for anything._

_Kris liked his home less and less. His parents screamed at each other all the time. Thing smashed against the walls. Kris hid under the covers, each night begging the bedroom door not to open._

_Sirens flashed blue and red through the windows. His father was taken away by men with badges and handcuffs. His mother was nowhere to be seen. The men with badges found Kris in the closet. One of them held out his hand, saying that everything was going to be okay. A nurse rubbed ointment over the bruises on Kris’s face. He got to drink hot cocoa that night._

_He was taken to another large house. There were more children living there, all waiting for parents. Kris searched for his sisters, but they were not there. No one would tell him where they were. Kris stayed in his room and cried, away from the other children and their teasing. Then a giant goat woman came to visit him. She smiled and said hello. The goat woman knelt to hug Kris. Her white fur was soft and warm. She smelled like cinnamon and flowers. Kris held the woman tightly as he cried into her shoulder._

Kris struggled for breath as he returned to his body. He clutched at his heart. His soul hammered in his chest. He hated these episodes. He hated remembering. Kris found his phone, fallen on the quilt in front of him. He hated remembering, but this was…

He checked the screen. Frisk had sent more messages, asking if everything was okay. Swallowing through his dry throat, Kris tapped a quick reply. He just had to use the bathroom. A white lie. That’s all it was.

“ _I’m living with a family in Hometown, up north_ ,” he texted. _“God, I never thought I’d see you again._ ”

“ _Chara and I were so upset when they took u away._ ” Frisk replied. “ _We ended up adopted by different families. Chara’s new parents didn’t want a yellow kid. I found her around town a month ago 2._ ”

Kris furrowed his brow. “ _Chara? You mean Charlotte?_ ”

“ _Yeah. That’s what she’s calling herself now_.”

“ _OK. Sorry we got split up._ ”

“ _Its not ur fault_.” Frisk texted back quickly. _“I’m just glad I finally found u again._ ”

“ _How did you find me?_ ”

“ _Searched every guy on MyShare named Kris within 100 miles. Most of them were white, so it wasn’t hard. Still took me a few weeks._ ”

“ _Where are you now?_ ”

“ _Ebott City College. Studying politics._ ”

Ebott City College? That was where Asriel went to study. Frisk kept on texting.

“ _Chara’s living somewhere downtown. Would you like to catch up?_ ”

Kris read the last message three times. Catch up… For years, he never wanted to give himself hope. But if he could see his family; his human family; again…

A knock at the door startled him. “Kris?” his mother called. “Fifteen minutes before bed, dear.”

Kris vaulted off the bed. “Mom!” He threw the door open.

His mother, Toriel, turned in the hall. Surprise lit her snowy, furred face. “What is it?”

Kris held the phone up to her. “Come look at this!”

Toriel walked back to him and peered at the chatroom. Her brow wrinkled, not understanding. “What is this?”

Taking the phone back, Kris enlarged Frisk’s profile picture. “Look at this girl! It’s my sister, Francine! She just started texting me!”

“Kris, you know how I feel about you talking to…” Toriel blinked. “Did you just say _your sister?_ ”

“My human sister!” Kris exclaimed, his eyes wide and wild. “She’s in Ebott City! Where Asriel is! And Francine said that she’s found Charlotte, too!”

Toriel gently took the phone and read through the messages. Kris shrunk as she frowned, hoping that she was merely criticising Frisk’s spelling. Her face softened as she reached the end. “She wants to see you…”

Kris looked to the floor to his mother’s bare, monstrous feet. “Kris?” she asked. Toriel knelt on one knee. No matter how tall Kris grew, she could always crouch to look him level in the eye. Toriel cupped his cheek. “Do you want to see her?”

Kris trembled. He made up his mind but was also terribly unsure. “I… I… Uh…” His mother waited patiently. “I want to see her,” he stated. “I want to see them both.”

Toriel smiled. “I’m so happy for you, Kris. This is all so exciting! When does she want to meet?”

Kris sent the question. “ _I have a test Monday I need to study for,_ ” Frisk answered. “ _What about the 23 rd?_”

The 23rd of the month was a Saturday in the next week. Toriel bit her lip at the date. Frisk wanted them to meet at the college. “I suppose we _might_ be able to make it work. I’ll see if… your father… will be able to go with you.” Kris’s nerves and excitement hit rock bottom under the disdain which crept into his mother’s tone.

“So, I can go?” Kris asked.

“So long as you’re careful. I want to believe that this is genuine, Kris; but I read too often about people who do cruel things online and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Kris nodded quietly. Now the doubts crawled further around inside him. ‘ _What if this is just a big trick?_ ’ he wondered. ‘ _What if it’s not really Francine at all? What if she doesn’t really know I’m here?_ ’

At least he could always see Asriel instead.

His mother clapped her hands together. “Well, this is all so wonderful! However, it’s almost time for bed. Finish speaking with your sister and brush your teeth. I’ll make a couple of phone calls and organise your travel plans for you.”

Toriel kissed him goodnight. She then made her way downstairs. Kris stared down at his phone and the girl smiling back at him. “ _Sure,_ ” he texted. “ _23 rd sounds good. See you there._”

“ _Gr8! See u soon! I’ll call Chara 2. Miss u, bb brother. <3_”

Baby brother… Those words hung in Kris’s head long after he switched off the lights and slipped into his blankets. A deep, ancient ache opened within his heart as he dreamed of his sisters’ faces. Hot tears soaked his pillow as a harsh sob tore through Kris’s throat.

He missed them, too. He missed them so much that it hurt. It hurt so horribly every single day for the last 11 years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise if any of my text speak looks weird. I don't typically use acronyms or the like. I text like Kris does.


	2. Confidence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Worried about his reunion with his sisters, Kris turns to a friend for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm quite glad that I've started cross-publishing on this site. The tagging and search mechanics give me a lot more freedom than on FanFiction, and I feel that this story is much more visible here. I'm enjoying this experience.

Kris walked towards the school in a stupor. He had slept horrendously the previous night. His thoughts kept cycling around Francine and Charlotte. All he had of them were faint, rough memories that he could barely make sense of. Yet, those memories were so precious to Kris that he could never let them go, no matter how much time had passed.

“Earth to Kris!”

He snapped alert with a start. Without realising it, he was in the hallway towards Ms Alphys’s classroom. Kris turned to find his friend, Susie, leaning against a locker right next to him. He never noticed her until that moment.

“Dude, you sleep at all?” she asked. “You look spacy as.”

In Susie’s purple, dragon maw, she sucked on a stick of chalk like a cigarette. Someone had let slip to the rumour mill a month ago that she regularly ate chalk from the supply closet. Kris only had himself to blame for that. After a full week of angry relapse, Susie stopped caring about what people thought and no longer bothered to hide her habit.

“Who needs sleep?” Kris yawned deeply.

“Who needs breakfast, either?” Susie tilted her head back and opened her mouth. Her tongue rolled deftly around the chalk and pulled it down into the merciless reach of her fangs, like a ship into a kraken’s lair. Kris fished an apple out of his backpack and handed it to Susie. She took a greedy bite from it.

“Sorry,” Kris mumbled. “I forgot to reply to your message last night.”

“You _forgot?_ ” Susie narrowed her gaze. “Something better got your interest?”

He considered telling Susie about Frisk. “Actually…” Suddenly, the bell rang. Kris sighed. “I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Yeah, yeah. You can tell me at recess after you’ve helped me out with Alphys’s damned physics homework.” Susie folded her arms behind her wild, brown mane and waltzed into the classroom. Kris threw his bag into his locker and followed her.

Kris paid attention during class about as well as usual. He had years to master the skill of operating on nothing but fumes. It helped that Susie spent the next hour flicking paper footballs at his back. Oddly, it was one of her few bad habits that Kris had actually asked Susie to continue, long after she stopped bullying him and they became friends. Susie couldn’t concentrate in class if she didn’t keep her hands busy, and the frequent taps from behind kept Kris from dozing too deeply.

Once the bell rang for recess, Kris and Susie made a beeline for the empty classroom near the supply closet. The path to the Dark World was closed for good. Their adventures with the Darkners were long behind them. Despite it all, this part of the school remained precious to both Kris and Susie. They threw their notebooks over the floor and sat down.

After Kris had helped Susie understand the first few questions on the assignment, he yawned wide enough to fit his fist into his mouth. “Dude, you okay?” Susie asked.

“Fine…” he muttered.

“Something keep you up all night?”

“Not really.”

Susie frowned. “You said that something happened last night. That’s why you didn’t text me back about this stupid paper?”

“Right… That…” Kris pulled out his phone. He opened his MyShare inbox and showed it to Susie.

“What’s this? Who’s… Frisk?”

Kris swallowed. “My sister.”

“Huh,” Susie nodded simply. Then her brain caught up. “Huh?! Sister?!” She grabbed the phone for a closer inspection. “Your sister? A _human_ sister? Did your mom adopt her or something recently?”

“Francine’s my… my real sister. From my human family.”

Susie switched her stare between Kris and the photo on his phone. “Hold up! If you had a sister, then why is this the first time I’ve heard of her?”

Kris took several deep breaths. He had to steel himself for this. “Francine and I were… separated… after our parents died. I had another sister, too. Charlotte. I… I was adopted but… I didn’t get to go with either of them. I was alone ever since.”

Susie’s eyes grew wide. Her lips shrank into an uncertain look that was the antithesis of her strong, aloof personality. “But… aren’t people supposed to adopt siblings… together?”

“You’d think so,” Kris hung his head. “But that’s not what happened for me.”

“So, Asgore and Toriel took you away and left your sisters behind?!” Like on a dime, Susie flipped into a raging snarl. Stretched lips exposing dagger-like fangs was Susie’s other extreme side. Kris didn’t so much as flinch from it.

“No… This was… a different family. Another human one. It… didn’t work out.” Kris tensed. He still couldn’t talk about that part of his life; not even to Susie, who knew more about the crap living inside his head and past than his current family did. “I wound up back at the orphanage after a year. Francine and Charlotte… They weren’t there when I searched for them. Next thing I remember, my mom picked me up and brought me here.”

Running claws through her tangled hair, Susie looked to the floor. “Holy shit… Kris… I never knew you went through all that…”

“Yeah, well… I don’t like telling people about it,” he murmured brusquely.

Susie nodded with a face that knew exactly what he meant. She had her demons that even Kris was still learning about. “How long has it been since you’ve seen them?”

“Eleven years… I was six when it happened.”

“Shit…” Kris nodded. That was precisely what it felt like.

“So, what’s this got to do with last night?” Susie read from the phone. “This girl found you and your other sister? You’re going to see them again?”

Kris didn’t answer straight away. “I was going too… But…”

“But what? Come on, Kris. This is your family we’re talking about.”

A shuddering sigh broke through Kris’s lips. “I just don’t know what to expect. It’s been so long. What if I go and it’s not really them? What if it is them, but they’re completely different people now? What if they find out what I’m like and they want nothing to do with me anymore?”

Kris clutched his head between his knees. “God! Francine’s already in college and who knows what Charlotte’s done with her life! What do I have to show for myself? I’m not like Asriel! I don’t have top grades! I don’t have any special achievements! I just go around day by day being my same boring self! What the heck are they going to think of me?”

“Hey! Come on, dude.” Kris felt Susie’s hand on his shoulder. He looked up and found her lunged over their notebooks, looming over him. Susie didn’t normally touch him like this, nor did her eyes look at him so softly with concern. The strip lights cast her with a halo in the mist of Kris’s tearing vision.

“There’s no way they’re not going to see what an awesome guy you are,” she said. “Don’t you remember? We saved the Dark World. You and me. You defeated the Dark Knight. You stopped Ralsei and Lancer and everyone else from disappearing for good. And you saved my life more than a few times. You’re a hero who protects people.”

She placed her other hand atop Kris’s head and gave him a firm noogie. “So, quit selling yourself short like that, you dunce!” she cackled.

“Okay! Okay! Ow! Stop!” he laughed, pushing her hands away. “Alright. I really do want to go. But I’m still nervous.”

“It probably won’t be that bad. I mean it’s your sisters, right? I bet they want to see you so badly, they won’t care if you turn out to be a bigger train wreck than Burgerpants.”

Kris snorted. “I guess that’s something.” He stared at her for a long while. “But… do you think you’d… Do you mind… Would you mind…?”

Susie flashed him an odd look. “What? Spit it out.”

Taking a breath to gather his thoughts, Kris tried again. “Would you mind coming with me? To meet my sisters?”

“You… want me to go with you?” Susie blinked, surprised.

Kris hung his head. “Honestly… I don’t think I can do this by myself. I’d really appreciate it if you were there with me.”

For a moment, Susie sat dumbstruck. Kris cleared his throat. “Sorry. Stupid idea. Don’t worry about it.”

“No, no! It’s cool, man! Sure, I could tag along.” Kris smiled. “Soooo, when and where are you meeting?”

At the mention of Ebott City, Susie blanched. “Um… How do you plan on getting there?” Since his mother was busy on the day and his father’s pickup truck could only seat two people, the bus would probably be their only option now. Susie scratched her scalp uneasily. “That’s going to be a tall order.”

Kris expected her to be worried. Susie’s family was dirt poor. Her mother was terribly ill, like Kris’s Uncle Rudy. Unlike Noelle’s family, though, Susie’s barely had the money to pay for the treatments, even with her father working long hours every day. As a result, they often couldn’t afford to put food on the table, let alone buy a return bus ticket across the state. It was a shame. Her folks were such kind people.

“Hey, don’t worry about the fare,” Kris assured her. “I’m sure my mom will be happy to cover you.”

Susie’s mouth twisted. She wasn’t as defensive about it as she used to be, yet she still loathed taking charity. “I don’t know…”

“You’d be doing me a huge favour if you come.”

That tipped the balance just enough. Susie sighed. “Okay. If you really want me there that badly, I guess that’s fine.”

“Great. Thanks, Susie,” Kris smiled. “You’re the best.”

Susie turned her gaze to one side. “You know it.” Kris probably imagined it, but the scales across her snout seemed to turn faintly towards a shade of pink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure why, but I seem to hear Aaron Dismuke's voice whenever I read Kris speak in this story. Maybe it's because I've watched a lot of his recent works over the last few months and have subconsciously drawn parallels to his roles in My Hero Academia and Blood Blockade Battlefront.


	3. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day has come for Kris to meet his sisters at Ebott City College. There, he encounters a little more than what he bargained for.

On the 23rd of the month, Kris felt queasy. The long and bumpy bus ride had little to do with it. For the two hours it took to cross through forests and open fields, Kris couldn’t stop thinking about Francine and Charlotte.

‘ _Frisk and Chara,_ ’ he reminded himself. If those were the names that they had chosen for themselves now, he should use them when they meet. After so many years apart, the last thing Kris wanted was to give either of his siblings a reason to dislike him. That was one among many of the worries making his stomach lurch.

Beside him, Susie buried her nose in a comic book. Kris had brought it for the journey but couldn’t focus in his condition, so he gave it to her instead. Up front, Kris’s father, Asgore, took up two seats with his giant build. His large, caprine horns ground against the bus’s ceiling. Kris heard the faint, tinny whine from Asgore’s earphones as he listened to an audiobook.

Compared to Hometown, a mere country dwelling, Ebott City was immense. Its towers stood taller than Kris could see through the window. Its highways ran wider than the river near his family’s house. Kris felt like he was cast adrift in the ocean. He might as well be an ant for how huge everything around him was.

After Kris, Susie, and his father stepped off the bus, they caught a train for another 15 minutes. The college had its own station. Dozens of people disembarked the train at once, all funnelling in one direction. Kris held onto his father’s arm as they walked, lest either of them disappeared in the crowd suffocating him.

Outside, Ebott City College looked like its own town. Tall buildings stood in every direction. Cars drove along narrow roads as students crossed between them, regardless of any safety rules. Asgore led them past bookstores and offices under the guidance of a campus map.

Frisk asked them to meet at the coffee shop near the Tobias Vulpine Building. The area was filled with hundreds of people. Humans and monsters milled about in every direction. One of Kris’s other worries was standing out too much. So far, nobody spared them as much as a passing glance.

“This seems to be the right place,” Asgore nodded. “Now, I’ll be off to find Asriel. We’ll meet back here after his class finishes.” He engulfed Kris in one of his strong, plush goat-monster hugs. “Good luck! I’ll see you very soon.”

When his father left, Kris sidled close to Susie without conscious thought. He was beyond grateful she was here with him. He felt close to throwing up. Susie paced on the spot, casting a glance around and whistled.

“This place is something else. Think either of us could end up here?” Susie then laughed. “Yeah, right. As if I could get in with my grades.”

“Y-yeah,” Kris chuckled anxiously. “Me neither. What are the chances?”

He opened his phone and studied Frisk’s photo again. It was five minutes past the meeting time. Were they too late? Did something happen to Frisk and Chara? Kris scoured the crowd for their faces. It was like being sucked into a _Locate Larry_ book, in which the stakes were personal and impossibly high.

Across the yard, two human girls stood together. Their heads moved left to right as though searching for something as well. A pale-faced girl in a ripped denim jacket caught Kris’s stare. She pulled sharply on the other girl’s arm, pointing to him. Both looked straight at Kris. The girl in the blue sweater clasped her hands to her mouth. Slowly, they walked towards him.

Kris froze in place. His every nerve jittered inside of him. His breath locked inside his chest. He could not tear his eyes away from Frisk. She and Chara stopped just short of him, both just as awestruck and shaken as he. Chara held onto Frisk’s shoulder.

“Kris…?” Frisk lowered her hands from her face. Her voice trembled in almost a whisper.

Kris’s throat became tight. “Franny…? Charla…?” He hadn’t breathed those names in years. They shook him to his core.

Bursting into tears, Frisk threw herself into Kris. Her arms crushed him as her face buried into his neck. Chara held them both at once. She rested her forehead against Kris’s. “God… That hair makes you look like a girl,” she sobbed.

Kris cried with them. Eleven years… Eleven years since he had last seen his beloved sisters. Eleven years since he last held either of them. Now, they were finally here. He could finally touch them again. He could finally speak to them again.

“I’ve missed you so much,” he wailed.

“We missed you, too,” Frisk bawled. She kissed his cheek, squeezing him tighter. Chara didn’t say anything further. She simply held Kris like a vice, choking on her own tears.

How long had they cried together? Kris didn’t know. When his eyes and throat were too raw for more, he released his hold on his sisters. They each dried their faces, smiling and laughing at last. Frisk then took notice of Susie, who had stood to one side the entire time, appearing awkward and out of place.

“You must be Susie,” Frisk said. She offered her hand. “It’s so lovely to you meet you.”

Susie shook it tentatively. “Yeah… Same. So… you’re Kris’s sisters?”

“That’s right. I’m Frisk and this is Chara.”

Chara gave a miniscule wave. “Hey…” she said without making eye contact.

Susie glanced at her tattered outfit. “Cool threads,” she grinned.

Chara noted Susie’s own worn jeans. “Thanks.”

Inside the coffeeshop, Frisk had reserved a table. There was an uncomfortable silence as they waited for their drinks. No one seemed sure about how to proceed. If Kris was being honest, he never spent any time thinking of what to say past this point.

Frisk, the instigator for everything thus far, told Kris how she was adopted a few months after Chara. The people who took her in had been caring parents. She enrolled at the college before the semester and met her boyfriend through class.

“He said he’ll stop by a little later,” Frisk said. “He really wanted to meet you, Kris.”

Chara’s story was far removed from their sister’s, unfortunately. The parents she ended up with had been strict. They pushed her to study hard in school and when she failed to meet their expectations, they scolded her tirelessly. One day Chara reached her breaking point. She walked out from home and returned to the orphanage. There, she demanded the caretakers tell her where her siblings were. When they refused, Chara threatened them with a pocketknife. She spent two months in a juvenile detention centre.

Afterwards, Chara spent the next few years flitting between juvie and various shelters. During that time, she made friends with monster kids from a local gang. She joined up shortly after. The gang didn’t get involved in anything too radical, as most of its members were monsters. The worst they usually did was make noise at late hours and inconvenience the local community, through incident more often than by any intent. Still, they gave Chara food, cash, and a home she felt she belonged in. Then she and Frisk ran into each other by sheer chance.

“Anyway,” Chara mumbled. “Enough about me. What ended up happening to you?”

Kris took a long sip from his hot chocolate. It bought him time to steel himself and prepare his words. He skipped the year spent with his first new family entirely. Kris told the others how a family of monsters took him in, and that he grew up in a town without knowing any other humans. It wasn’t terrible, he reassured them. Kris did admit to feeling lonely a lot until he and Susie became friends.

“My brother’s studying here, too,” he said when he decided to broach the subject of Asriel. “Maybe you’ve seen him, Frisk. His name is…”

“Oh, hang on!” Frisk leaped out of her chair, facing the door. “My boyfriend just got here. I’ll go fetch him.”

She raced over faster than Kris could blink. He turned around in his seat. Frisk stopped in front of a tall guy standing in the entrance. Kris froze.

‘ _Oh my god…_ ’

Frisk stood on her toes and pecked her boyfriend on his furry, white lips. It was Asriel. And their father was standing right behind him. Frisk grabbed Asriel’s hand and led them both to the table. Asriel watched her with a big grin on his face. Then it fell when he discovered Kris gaping in front of him.

“Kris?!” Asriel yelped.

“Azzy?!”

Frisk became confused. “You two know each other?” Nobody could answer her.

“Ohhh myyyy go-o-od!” Susie burst out laughing. “Du-u-u-de! Kris! Ohmygod! I can’t believe it!” She pounded her fist against the table, drawing the attention of the entire café. “Kris! Are you seeing this? Your brother is dating your sister!”

Susie screamed, nearly falling out of her chair. Kris, Asriel, and Frisk all looked at one another, utterly stunned. At last, Frisk spoke. “Wait… Azzy… Does this mean… this whole time… my brother’s been…?”

“So,” Asriel stammered, “the Kris you’ve been looking for… and the Kris I know…?”

“Oh my god, Asriel!” Frisk shrieked. “I have been searching for Kris for over a month! Why did you not tell me he was living with you?!”

“How was I supposed to know? What were the chances?”

“I look just like him! How could you not even guess?!”

Asriel looked between her and Kris. He threw his head into his hands when he realised his mistake. “Oh my GOOOOOD!!! I’m an IDIOOOOT!!!”

By then, Chara and Susie were both in hysterics. Kris and Asgore tried not to laugh, as well, but were failing miserably. “Didn’t you ever see Asriel listed as a mutual friend on MyShare?” Chara cackled.

Frisk and Asriel only wailed in answer.

Once everyone calmed down and it became clear that the spectacle wasn’t what they first thought it was, many of the other patrons quickly lost interest. A few curious stares lingered on their table, however, as Frisk and Asriel took their seats next to each other.

“Okay…” Frisk breathed. “I’ve finally reunited with my little brother after eleven years apart, and it turns out he’s my boyfriend’s adopted sibling. This is what’s actually happened to me?”

“Oh my god,” Susie wiped a tear away. “Best shit I’ve ever seen. Totally worth coming here.”

“I’m sooooo sooooorrrrrrrryyyyyyy!” Asriel moaned into his arms. Asgore patted him on the back.

“There, there, son. No harm done. But golly… That was a surprise.” He then remembered his manners and held his hand out to Frisk and Chara in turn. “Howdy! I’m Asgore. I’m sure you’ve guessed where I fit in all this?”

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Mr Dreemurr,” Frisk said listlessly.

As his means of redemption, Asriel bought them all cake from the dessert cabinet. Kris then finished his story, having little left to say. His brother, however, had more to offer in Kris’s stead. Frisk became delighted to hear that he played piano and wrote stories online. Kris flushed red with embarrassment, really not wanting to talk about his _Overfable_ fan fiction in front of everyone. He steered the conversation towards his music as best as he could.

They talked for hours. Kris hardly noticed the time fly. He was simply happy to be here, with his father, his brother, his missing sisters, and his best friend. If only his mother were here, it would be perfect. Then it wouldn’t be perfect for much longer, Kris considered, when Toriel inevitably chided Asgore as soon as he spoke too casually towards her. Nah, Kris decided. This was perfect enough.

When Asgore checked his watch, the spell was broken. “Hmm… We’ll need to head back for the bus.”

Frisk’s face fell. Chara looked away. “Oh…” Kris said, his soul starting to fracture.

“Thank you for bringing Kris, Mr Dreemurr,” Frisk replied with a sad smile. “It means so much to us to get to see him again.”

“I assure you that it means just as much to me to meet Kris’s human family.” A happy gleam shone through Asgore’s eyes. “I have an idea! How would you both like to come visit us sometime? I’m sure that Toriel and I can work something out if you’d like to stay a while.”

“I’d love that!” Frisk beamed. “What do you think, Chara?”

Chara fiddled with her fork. “Sounds good to me…”

Kris felt his spirits launch as Asgore gave his sisters his phone number. When they stood to leave, Frisk clutched Kris tightly against her, as if trying to imprint as much of herself into him as she could. In comparison, Chara’s embrace felt more reserved. Her fist pounded his back three times before she released him. Kris smiled. He never recalled how different Francine and Charlotte were when they were kids. When Asriel hugged him next, and Kris felt his soft coat underneath his green sweater, he came close to crying. He had three siblings now, just like he had always dreamed.

The train ride back to the bus station was a sad trip. When he was sure that no one was looking at him, Kris wiped the tears from his face. They alighted at the terminal. Asgore left to buy a magazine from the kiosk before the bus arrived. It was then just Kris, Susie, and a bunch of other people with suitcases waiting in the shelter.

“So, how you doing?” Susie asked.

“Fine, thanks.” For once, that wasn’t an automatic response made to be polite. Kris found that he meant it.

Susie nodded. “Your sisters were pretty cool. Weird how Frisk and Asriel were all… you know.”

“Yeah…”

“Like, not bad weird,” she leaped in to add. “Just… you know… The way it worked out like that?

“I get what you mean.”

“Do you think Chara owns a motorbike?” Susie quickly switched topics. “She looked like she owns a motorbike.”

Possibly. Kris smirked. “You could always ask.”

“Eh, maybe next time.”

A silence took hold. Kris swallowed. “Hey, Susie? Thanks for coming with. It… really helped.”

She smiled. “Anytime, dude.”

“No, really… I was so nervous on the way here. I really don’t think I could have made it through the whole way if it were just my dad and me.”

Susie placed a hand on his shoulder. Then she pulled Kris towards her. He felt her arms slip around him. Her firm, yet warm chest pressed against his face. “Uh…? Susie?”

“Come on. You got me in a hugging mood, you dork,” she chuckled. “Seriously. I’m glad I could help.”

Smiling, Kris put his arms around Susie’s middle. She was leaner than her layers of clothing suggested. For someone who didn’t do well in school, Susie smelt oddly like a classroom. It was probably the chalk-eating habit, Kris reasoned. Still, it relaxed him.

* * *

Frisk swiped her access card across the scanner. The device beeped, unlocking the door to her dorm room. Asriel followed close behind, flicking on the light switch as Frisk tossed her bag against the wall. She flopped facedown onto her bed.

“That was… eventful,” Asriel hazarded to state.

“I’m so mad that Kris was living with you this whole time and I never knew about it,” Frisk moaned. She rolled onto her back and let the mattress’s sweet softness take her away.

“I’m sorry,” Asriel sulked. He collapsed into her desk chair and hung his head into his hands. “I’m such a dummy. I should have realised it sooner.”

“It’s okay,” she relented. “I’m madder that it took so long to find Kris than I am at you. I can’t believe it. It’s been eleven years and I finally found him and Chara again. I never thought this day would happen.”

“I’m so happy for you,” Asriel smiled. “And like my dad said: anytime you or Chara want to see Kris, you just come visit Hometown. It’d be awesome to have you both there.”

Frisk smiled as well. “I’m really looking forward to that.”

“So…” Asriel fumbled for a few moments. “Kris and me being brothers… Does that… bother you at all?”

“Should it?”

“Well, no, but… If he’s your brother… And he’s my brother… Then…?”

Frisk curled into a ball, pupils darting away from him. “Well… It’s not like you’re suddenly _my_ brother now, right? We can still be… dating, right? It’s not weird or anything.”

“Sure! Sure!” Asriel exclaimed. “I mean there was nothing to think about when we started going out. So, this shouldn’t be any different.”

“Well… good.”

“Good,” he agreed.

A pause lingered between them before they both burst out laughing. It was _so_ weird. Though neither of them cared. Frisk smiled as she opened her arms. Asriel settled down across the bed and snuggled her.

“I had a great day today, Azzy.”

“I’m glad.” He kissed her forehead. “I love you.”

Frisk closed her eyes, heading on her way to doze. “Love you, too.”


	4. Problem Child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was more to Chara's story than she ever let her siblings know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've surprised myself with how much I enjoyed writing this story. I didn't expect to put as much time into it as I have already. This has been a pleasant side project to wind down from my The Strength of Courage story on FanFiction.net after so many years.

Chara stared at her phone. A notification popped up on its cracked screen. Frisk let her know that she and her boyfriend would soon arrive to pick her up. Chara glanced at the duffel bag beside her on the bed. It didn’t hold much more than a few changes of clothes. Frisk, Kris, and Asriel all had Friday off school, and Kris’s mother had invited them to stay over at their house for the long weekend.

Three days in Hometown. Three uninterrupted days with her siblings. What would they do within all that time, Chara wondered? She doubted Frisk and Kris shared any of her interests. Most people didn’t hang with street gangs in their spare time. They’d probably be horrified if they knew what Chara really got up to. Why was she going at all?

Memories of better days surfaced. Their parents were still alive. Their family was still intact. Then some drunken teens caused a car crash that took out three other vehicles, with her parents caught in the centre. Chara and the others were thrown into the foster care system, where adults who didn’t give a damn palmed them off to the first homes that would take each kid in. No one ever wanted more than one new mouth to feed.

A knock on the doorframe snapped Chara to the present. Leaning against it, a cat-shaped mannequin smirked at her and crossed her arms. “Hey, Redblood. Still here, stinking up the joint?”

Chara scoffed. “Repo guy hasn’t come ‘round yet to toss your ass in the trunk?”

“As if a guy with that kind of job can pick up a girl like me,” the mannequin cackled.

“If you possessed a different kind of doll, you might actually find guys who’d want to pick you up.”

“Cheeky bitch. So, almost time to go?”

“Yeah. Little sis is coming by any minute. Then it’s three solid days in the boonies. Try not to trash the place while I’m gone. Okay, Mew?”

Mad Mew Mew, the pink tigress of the Spectres, brushed one of the giant bells attached to her ears. “Now, now,” she tutted. “You make it sound like I wreck shit just for the fun of it.”

“You trashed three parking meters just last week,” Chara reminded her, the smirk never leaving her face.

“They deserved it.”

Chara’s phone buzzed. Frisk texted that she and Asriel were outside the building. Sending a reply, Chara took one last look at her bedroom. The cramped space was barely habitable, with paint peeling from the walls and mould festering in the corners. Every piece of furniture was salvaged from the scrapyard, built-in with authentic wear and tear. It was a dump, Chara admitted. But it was her dump.

Mew Mew sauntered over and pulled Chara into a hug. “Seeya, Chara. Give those country folks a big, old Spectre hello from me.”

“The last thing I need is Kris’s family filing a restraining order. So, no.”

“Pussy.”

“Weeb’s Wet Dream.” Chara hugged her friend tighter. “Seeya, Mew. Gonna be boring without you.”

“I’d come with, but it’s impossible to get mud out of this dress.”

Chara grabbed her bag and slung it over one shoulder. She and Mew Mew bumped knuckles before Chara made her way down the creaky stairs of their apartment building. Outside, Frisk’s clean, second-hand car looked out of place in the battered street located in Ebott City’s armpit.

Chara tossed her bag into the back seat and clambered in after it. Country rock played on the stereo. ‘ _Topical,_ ’ Chara sniffed. One of Asriel’s CDs, apparently. The poor guy was crouched over the passenger seat. His horns pressed against the car’s roof.

The drive to Hometown was uneventful. Chara ended up thinking about Kris again. The humans who took him only wanted a young child. The ones who adopted her only did it because she was Caucasian, like her father, and Frisk wasn’t. Instead, Frisk got stuck with whatever was left. Chara would still have traded if she’d been given the choice. Frisk would have made her stuck-up ‘parents’ proud. Chara had been nothing but a “disappointment.” A wasted investment.

At 14, Chara spent her first stint in juvie after her short-lived mission to track down her siblings. She smiled at the memory of walking into her cell on the first day. Someone must have known she was coming and thought to play a prank on the new kid, for a life-sized doll of some pop culture cat girl was lying on the bottom bunk. At least, Chara thought it was a doll before it flicked its tail and glanced at her with a bored expression.

Mew Mew and Chara became fast friends. At the time, Chara wasn’t sure what drew her to the monster. It was probably the give-less-than-a-shit attitude that Mew expressed towards everything. That, and the fun fact that Mew was actually a ghost in their 130s , inhabiting a mannequin they had found in an abandoned storage locker. The court misidentified Mew Mew as a minor and threw her into the slammer for smashing a few windows. It was also Mew Mew who later introduced Chara to the Spectres street gang. They remained roommates and best friends for years.

Somewhere during the drive, Chara had dozed off. She woke up to dense forest in every direction, feeling more disoriented than after a hard night at the bar. Twenty minutes later, the first signs of civilisation appeared.

At first glance, Hometown wasn’t too different to the suburban parts of the city. It wasn’t all shacks and barns like Chara assumed. She stared out of the window to the monsters standing around outside. Kris had mentioned that he didn’t grow up knowing any other humans. Chara now realised he had meant there were no other humans in Hometown. Only monsters. Monster adults; monster kids; monster postal workers; monster police officers. Just monsters… Everywhere she looked… Chara couldn’t take her eyes away.

Frisk drove through to the other side of town. A single house with a red van stood at the edge of the forest. Chara saw a small crowd out front, holding up a banner with the words “Welcome to Hometown.”

“Looks like Mom invited my old class over,” Asriel chuckled. “Kris’s too, I think.”

‘ _Great,_ ’ Chara frowned. ‘ _Maybe I should stay in the car?_ ’

The crowd cheered as they stepped out from the vehicle. Asriel stood tall and leaned back, pressing his hands into his aching spine. A giant goat woman approached him. Asriel was the same height as his mother, yet he seemed smaller once she enveloped him in a hug.

“It’s so wonderful to meet you, Frisk,” Toriel said, swallowing her into her arms. “Asriel has told me so much about you.”

She then spied Chara and came after her. “And you must be Chara! Welcome to our home.”

The woman’s strength surprised Chara. But once Torial had her pressed against her chest, Chara felt how gentle her embrace was. Her body was warm and soft. When was the last time someone had held her like this? Like a mother? Chara put her arms around Toriel and thanked her. She couldn’t reach all the way around the monster’s waist.

“ _Girlfriend?!_ ” Chara and Toriel separated to watch Asriel talking to a chubby, purple cat. “But I thought we had something special, Azzy?!” the girl screamed.

Asriel pinched his nose in clear irritation. “I’ve told you already, Catty,” he sighed. “We went to the prom together. That was all that was. You and I were never dating.”

“Well, what does she have that I don’t?”

“For starters, the common sense not to try and pour a glass from the entire punch bowl. Or twerk on me in front of my mother. Or get arrested in the parking lot all on the same night.”

A green alligator with lipstick cackled aloud. Catty turned on her and completely forgot about Asriel. Gingerly, he escorted Frisk into the house while the two monster girls locked into a heated argument. Chara found Kris among the spectators and hugged him.

“You keeping good?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he answered. Not much for talking, he was. That was fine. Neither was she. It worked spectacularly.

Toriel led Chara to where she and Frisk could leave their bags. A camping mattress laid across the living room floor, with pillows and blankets thrown over the sofa. Kris’s house looked clean and comfortable. Chara found photographs all over the place with him and Asriel shown together over the years. She was glad that he at least got a decent life at some point after he was taken.

Out behind the house, several picnic tables awaited them with a banquet. Smoke from a barbeque grill thickened the air, stimulating Chara’s appetite. Kris was already seated with his classmates. His friend, Susie, sat beside him.

“Hey, there.” Chara turned to find an orange cat monster addressing her. A cigarette burned between his tombstone-sized teeth. “You’re lil’ Kris’s sis, am I right? How ya doing? Name’s Hamilton. And yours is?””

“Not a name you’ll be saying in anyone’s ear soon.”

The guy’s bravado shrivelled like spinach on a pan. “Ouch… Brutal.” Chara rolled her eyes. She’d been in this town for less than an hour and she was already being hit on by men who thought they were all that.

“Hey, Chara,” Asriel called. “I see you’ve met Burgerpants already.”

“Azzy! Mah man!” Burgerpants knocked fists with Asriel and man-hugged him like he hadn’t just been rejected five seconds earlier.

“Howdy, Ham! I see you’re actually trying to talk to girls for once.”

“Love is a harsh battlefield, my friend,” Burgerpants said, puffing his smoke. “And _I heard_ you finally hooked yourself a chick!” Chara then heard him whisper. “She’s… not this one, is she?”

“No, Frisk is with Mom in the kitchen. You must not have seen Catty blow her fuse earlier.”

Chara walked off before Burgerpants could explain that he had been in the bathroom. If the options today were to hang around Asriel’s schoolfriends or Kris’s, her choice was clear. Kris’s classmates introduced themselves to Chara. After a few minutes, she decided that they weren’t bad kids. Ridiculous and weird was simply the standard with monsters.

Soon, everyone had arrived and was seated. Toriel tapped a spoon against a glass. Silence fell. “Thank you, everyone, for coming,” she announced. “Today we welcome Asriel back from college. It seems like the time that passes between his visits grows longer. But perhaps that’s just me being a silly, old goat.” Many laughed in good nature, including Asriel.

“But another, just as marvellous reason we’ve gathered here is to welcome Chara and Frisk; our Kris’s human sisters.” An applause interrupted Toriel. “It’s been many years since they lived in the same home together. A miracle has brought these children back together.

Toriel directed her gaze towards them. “The years we’ve spent since Kris joined our family have been a blessing. And now that we’ve had the chance to meet Chara and Frisk, I hope we experience many blessings more. Chara, Frisk, I thank you both for coming all this way to meet us. I want you both to know that our door is always open to you.”

Chara felt shaken to the core as everyone in the yard clapped and cheered. She didn’t even know most of these people, yet they seemed so happy about her simply being here. This was… not normal for her. A funny feeling wriggled in her chest. She didn’t know if that was good or bad.

It filled her with… something…


	5. Over a Plate of Waffles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris and Chara have a heart-to-heart chat over hot chocolate and a plate full of waffles.

Asriel and the girls arrived on Thursday night. The entirety of Friday was Kris’s to spend with his family. His mother made a full American breakfast in the morning. His father paid for lunch at QC’s Diner as well as ice cream afterwards. Asriel showed Frisk and Chara all around Hometown until the sky turned dark. Then Toriel brought out the family album and made his sisters look at those god-awful photos of him wearing his old costume horns.

Although they were away from college, Asriel and Frisk still had assignments to work on. They apologised to Kris before holing themselves up inside the library on Saturday. Kris and Chara were then left alone to wander the town, searching for something to do.

They spent hours by the river. Chara had never skipped stones before, so Kris taught her how to. She failed at least a dozen times. Yet, Chara didn’t give up. She was determined to make the pebble jump at least once. Kris remembered calling it quits after four doomed attempts when he started out. He didn’t pick up another stone until Asriel encouraged him to try again. When Chara finally managed to skip her stone three times, Kris became lost for words.

Afterwards, Chara treated Kris at the diner again. She ordered stacks of waffles along with two mugs of hot chocolate. Kris hid his smile. At least they shared this one thing in common.

“You mind if I ask you something?” Chara piped up. They had spoken little to each other the entire morning until now. Kris had been content with the silence, though he nodded for Chara to continue. “What’s up between Toriel and Asgore? They act like cats and dogs when they’re together.”

Kris lowered his gaze. A hollow sigh rose from his chest. “Yeah… Parents can be like that when they’re divorced.”

“Looked a little more intense than that, from what I saw.” She referred to the moment when Asgore had picked them up yesterday. As usual, he had tried to strike a conversation with Toriel. All that he got in return was an icy glare and barbed remarks. Kris typically tried to ignore those interactions.

“Don’t worry about it,” he mumbled. “It’s normal.”

“What happened between them?”

“It’s a long story. You don’t want to hear it.”

Chara shrugged. “It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

It became clear that she wasn’t easily dissuaded. Kris gave in. “They were happy together once, back when they adopted me. We did everything together. Went to church. Drank hot chocolate here. Hung around by the river. I started to feel like my life was patching back together.”

Kris paused. It always took him time to open up about these sorts of things. “A few years back, though, Dad started tinkering with investments. He came across a one that looked promising and put our family’s savings into it. The company quickly went bankrupt and we lost everything. That money was supposed to pay for Asriel and me to go to college.”

Chara gave him a sympathetic look. “Damn…”

“Mom hadn’t known about the money until after it was gone. She was furious that he didn’t consult her first and blamed him for not keeping track of the investment. She kicked him out. Filed for divorce a week later.” Then Kris felt like everything was falling apart all over again. Every single day, for six entire months, he dreaded he’d be taken back to the orphanage for another go-around.

“So, how did Asriel pay for college?” Chara asked.

“He got lucky. Won a scholarship during his senior year.” Kris laid his head into his hands. “But… that wasn’t enough for Mom to forgive Dad. She still resents him. She told me that she lost all respect for him that day.” If he got into college, too, would that change anything? What chance did he have of managing that, though? Kris scoffed at his own fantasies.

“That sucks…” Chara offered.

“It’s not fair!” Kris snapped. “Dad knows that he messed up! I know he’s been trying to make up for it! I’ve seen the past-due bills in his house! Dad could lose his shop at any time, and it’s all because he’s putting all his money into replacing my college fund! I don’t even know if that’s what I want to do with my life!”

Kris then opened his eyes. He saw Chara, as well as several other people, staring at him. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “Got carried away, there.”

Chara turned towards the wall. “Honestly, I know how you feel. The people who took me in were dicks, though. Getting into an Ivy-league school wasn’t a choice. I _had_ to get top grades to get in. At least your dad’s jumping through the hoops instead of cracking the whip on you. I can tell that he loves you.”

“Yeah, well, I wish he didn’t have to suffer because of me.”

Kris stewed in his self-loathing until Chara snapped her fingers in his face. “Hey! Look at me!”

He obeyed. Chara pointed to herself. “You see this face? This is the face of someone with absolutely zero prospects in life. I dropped out of middle school and built up a criminal record. Now I live in a shithole doing whatever I can just to get by. So long as you are doing _any_ better than I am with your life, your parents aren’t going to be disappointed with what you do. I’ve met a lot of assholes in my time, and those two just aren’t the type.”

Kris snorted. He couldn’t help it. Chara’s face morphed into a feral glare. “Did I say something funny?”

“God… Sorry, no! It’s just… You talk just like Susie does. The two of you are a lot alike, is all.”

Chara huffed, simmering down. “Well… As long as you mean it as a compliment.”

“You both act so… confident… even when everything sucks.” Kris smiled sadly. “I wish I could be like that.” If only he was still a hero in the Dark World…

Chara knocked on the table. “First thing you got to do: stop feeling sorry for yourself. Second thing you do: stop giving a crap about what people expect from you. It’s not their life, it’s yours! If they don’t like it, it’s their problem to deal with. You don’t apologise for shit.”

She let the words sink into Kris. “If you want your dad to stop running himself into the ground, tell him that. He’s going to keep paying for your tuition until you tell him outright that he’s wasting his time.”

“But what if I do end up wanting to go to college?” Kris asked.

“Then do whatever helps you sleep at night. Get a job and save up if you want. Just do something instead of wallowing around in self-pity.”

The bell above the front door rang. Asriel and Frisk walked into the diner. They both appeared drained. Frisk caught sight of Kris and Chara and joined them while Asriel ordered food. While she waited for her steak sandwich and cream soda, Frisk told them that she and Asriel had each finished the work they needed to for that day. That meant that they were free to hang out for the rest of the afternoon. When they later left for the cinema, Kris stopped Chara outside the diner.

“Hey, Chara? Thanks… for earlier.”

Chara ruffled his hair. “No problem, little bro. And if anyone ever gives you grief, just send them my way.” She cracked her knuckles for effect.

Kris smiled. Susie always offered the same thing. “Sure. Will do.”


	6. Blood, Dust, and Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A phone call from home ends less than favourably for Frisk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short one.

Weeks passed since their stay in Hometown. Frisk kept in contact with her brother and sister as often as her studies allowed. Exams were around the corner, and Frisk barely even had time to spend with Asriel lately. The final weeks of school would pass soon, she consoled herself. Then she was free to do as she pleased throughout the summer break.

Frisk was in amidst reviewing the history of diplomatic relations between humans and monsters when her phone rang. She read the caller ID and answered. “Hi, Mom!”

“Hello, Francine. How are you?”

“Busy,” Frisk sighed. “Studying for the exams.”

“I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

“No, no! I need a break, actually.”

Frisk spoke with her adoptive mother for half an hour. Her parents were humans who had met late in their lives and couldn’t have children of their own. Nothing could ever fill the hole in Frisk’s heart made by the death and separation of her family, but her new parents did their best to help her. They had been overjoyed for Frisk when she told them she had reconnected with Chara and Kris several months ago.

“Thanks for calling, Mom,” Frisk soon said. “I really should get going, though.” Asriel was due to arrive at any minute to take her to their dinner date.

“Before you go, Francine. There’s… something I want to speak with you about.”

The shift in tone put Frisk on edge. “Yes? What is it?”

“I’m aware that you’ve been going out with this Asriel boy for a few months now. Now, I know that college years are a time for young people to explore their horizons, and I’ve tried to provide you that freedom. However, I’m starting to suspect that your relationship with this boy is becoming… serious.”

Frisk grew confused. “Well… Of course, we’re serious. We have been for a while now.” What was happening right now?

“I see,” her mother said. “Francine, your father and I have spoken about this, and we’re concerned that dating Asriel might not be the best idea for you.”

“What are you talking about? Asriel is a sweet and caring guy! Why shouldn’t we be dating?” Could this be about Kris and Asriel being brothers? Surely not! Her mother would have said something sooner if that was the problem.

“Francine, we love you. We just want you to be happy. But I’m worried that there will be things that you’ll want to do in life that you can’t have by marrying a monster.”

“Marrying? Jeez, Mom! We’ve barely been dating for a year!” Frisk exclaimed. “And what on Earth do you mean by ‘can’t have?’”

“You know very well that humans and monsters aren’t… anatomically compatible. What if you decide to have kids of your own but can’t because…?”

“What?! So, just because Asriel can’t put a baby in me, I shouldn’t date him?! Were you this judgemental when you and Dad got together?”

“You know that it’s not the same!” her mother answered crossly. “Look, when I met your father, I couldn’t conceive. You can, though! I want you to be able to experience the parts of motherhood that I never could!”

“And what if I don’t want to?” Frisk snapped. “What if I’m content to adopt a child who lost their family, like I did? What if I decide to adopt their brothers and sisters so that they don’t have to be torn apart like mine were?!”

“Francine! That’s not what I meant!”

“You listen to me,” Frisk hissed. “I _love_ Asriel. He cares about me just as much as I care about him. He is a good person. And he is important to Kris. My little brother. _My. Actual. Blood!_ No matter what you or Dad think, Asriel will always be a part of my life; and I want him to be whatever part of it that I wish he can be someday. So, you can both either take it or leave it.”

“Francine, wait!”

Frisk hung up the phone and threw it across the bed. She fell onto the mattress and buried her face into her arms. Hot tears soaked into her sleeves. A sob shuddered in her chest.

The door knocked. Each tap was faint and spaced out; tentative. Frisk dried her eyes and answered. Asriel stood outside. He gazed upon her with concern. “Hey… Are… Are you okay?”

“Just fine,” Frisk said, trying not to show she had been crying.

“I… I heard you shouting just now.” He took hold of her hand. “Did something happen?”

Frisk sighed. The ruse was over before it began. “You could say that.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

Might as well. If he had overheard half the story, he might as well hear the full version. Frisk led him inside and sat down. She told him about her mother’s phone call, as well as the concerns that her parents had against their relationship.

“I mean, can you believe that?” Frisk ranted with tears down her face. “They’ve known we’ve been dating for ages and only decide now to say that they don’t approve.”

Asriel remained calm throughout the conversation. Saddened, but not expressing any further feelings one way or the other. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“God! My mom is being such a hypocrite! Would she have still married Dad if he were a monster? It’d be about the same for all the good he’d do to her uterus!”

“Is that… something you’re particularly worried about?” Asriel asked.

“What…? No! That’s not the issue! I mean… It is, but not like that! I just…” Frisk took a breath to gather her thoughts. “Well… What would you want? How would you want to have kids?”

Asriel scratched around the base of his horns. “I haven’t really given it any thought,” he said sheepishly. “But… I think you have the right of it. I mean, life’s been great having Kris as a brother. It wouldn’t matter to me if he had been born a monster or not. If my only option to have kids was to adopt, then I’d take it as good as any other way.”

Frisk took his hands and squeezed them. She loved him so much. “Thanks, Azzy. I really needed some help with this.”

He leaned forward to kiss her brow. “I hope that your parents come around eventually. It doesn’t make sense that being different species means we shouldn’t be together.”

Frisk laughed without humour. “You’re being a lot nicer to them than I’m feeling right now.”

“I’m sure that will pass.” He pulled Frisk into a hug. “So… do you still want to go out tonight, or would you rather stay in? Ham sent me a promo code we could use.”

“Can we stay in?” Frisk huffed. “I’m not really feeling like it, anymore.”

She had turned her phone off when her mother tried to call and text her again. Frisk stuffed it into her sock drawer, where it could no longer bother her. Asriel stretched across the bed, scanning an app for something Eastern and rich in sugar. Frisk snuggled against his chest. His free arm pulled her closer. She adored the smell of his shampoo. It smelled like buttercups.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have the family. Now starts the drama.


	7. Summer Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara joins Frisk and Asriel for summer break, though she regrets what she left behind.

Frisk rested her head against the car window, watching the trees fly past. Asriel drove this time. Her thoughts kept drifting to places other than where she presently was. It was wiser just to give the keys to him and let it all go.

“I swear, babe,” he said at the start of the journey, “I really need to buy an SUV at some point. Your car is tiny.”

“Lose the horns and you’d have more room,” Chara remarked from the back seat. Once again, she joined them on the trip to Hometown. Asriel, offended, stated that he liked his horns. Frisk did as well, though she often stared glumly at the dents and scratches underneath her roof. She’d never get any value from reselling the car.

Toriel was in the front garden when they pulled up at her house. She tossed down her trowel and greeted them with dirt rubbed into her clothes. “Oh, Asriel! How was your trip.”

“Backbreaking,” he groaned, leaning on his mother as he hugged her. “Thanks for letting Frisk crash for the summer.”

“It’s quite alright.” Toriel then embraced Frisk. “And how are you faring, dear?”

“So-and-so. Again, thanks for letting me stay.” Frisk had not spoken with her mother since before the exam period. After the last conversation that they had, Frisk chose against going home during the summer break. Asriel had suggested that she stay with him, instead. Any time spent with him and Kris was preferable to being alone on campus for three months.

“Of course, dear.” Toriel moved on to Chara. “Thank you for coming, as well, Chara. Are you sure that you don’t wish to stay with us? We’re more than happy to have you.”

Chara shrugged. “Last time I was here, it was a bit too cramped around the house.” She pulled her bags out from the trunk and slung them over her shoulders. “I’ll dump these over at Asgore’s and join you later.”

Frisk was thankful that Chara had decided to come along. She claimed she had nothing she couldn’t drop for a few months, and that Asgore had helped her find work while they were in Hometown. No matter what Frisk and Asriel argued, Chara adamantly refused to squeeze into Toriel’s home with them.

When Chara left, Toriel clapped her hands together. “Let’s get your things inside and I’ll put on some tea.”

* * *

Asgore’s flower shop sat just down the road from his ex-wife’s house. A dirty, blue pickup truck was parked to one side. There, Asgore lowered a large potted plant into the cargo bed. He caught Chara approaching and waved with a hearty smile.

“Ah, Chara. You’re already here. Howdy. Did you enjoy the drive?”

Chara remarked indifferently. Asgore accepted her reply with a nod and slapped the wall of his truck. “I’m just putting a few deliveries together. Why don’t you go inside and leave your bags upstairs? Kris is minding the register.”

Sweet fragrances hit Chara’s nose when she entered the shop. The tables and shelves were filled with a wide collection of flowers, succulents, herbs, and other plants that she wasn’t familiar with. Kris looked up at her from the service counter. They hugged halfway through the shop.

Kris showed her to the apartment on the second floor. It was mostly one room and smelt of earth. A folding screen had been set up around an inflatable mattress, her little private corner during her stay. Dingy and cramped. It already felt like home.

“So, how’s things with your dad?” Chara asked, setting her bags down.

“Getting better,” Kris replied. “I… talked to him about the college money. He’s starting to take care of himself more. I’m going to help Dad with the shop from now on and save up the money he gives me. Still not sure what I’m going to do with it yet.”

Chara approved. “So, thanks, Chara,” Kris continued. “It really helped, talking last time.”

“So long as you’re doing something about it,” she replied.

They heard the bell ring from downstairs. “I should go,” Kris said. He left to greet the new customer.

Chara opened her bags and started to unload her possessions onto the side table that Asgore provided. Then she laid upon the mattress. It was made from cheap canvas, which let her body slip over its smooth surface. Still, it felt nice not having old springs press into her back. Chara pulled out her phone and unlocked the screen.

She gazed into the background image. Chara and Mew Mew pressed their faces together, smirking at the camera like they were the toughest bitches in the world. They were the toughest they knew in Ebott City, at least. Mew was not scared of anything. Nothing could put her plastic shell down. She was a terminator among monsters. People in their neighbourhood knew to get off the street when they heard her bells ring.

Chara let the phone fall from her hand. She wished things had gone better when they last spoke.

* * *

_“So, you’re leaving again?”_

_Chara didn’t look at her. Mew Mew huffed, resting her chin on her hands whilst her tail flicked around the leg of her kitchen stool._

_“How long is it going to be this time?” Mew asked._

_“I don’t know,” Chara finally answered. “Maybe a few months? Frisk and Kris have summer break, so I figured I’d…”_

_“A few months?! You’re going to ditch everything you have here for a holiday?”_

_“What the hell do I have here?” Chara snapped. “A shoddy job? A run-down apartment? A rap sheet as long as my arm?”_

_“How about your friends?! Me?! The Spectres?!” Mew Mew threw up her hands. “You’re packing your bags right now and this is the first time I find out that you’re running off somewhere! It’s back to that Hometown, isn’t it?”_

_“What do you want from me, Mew?! Frisk and Kris are my family.”_

_“_ We’re _your family! When you had no one else, we were there for you._ I _was there for you! Now suddenly you run into these humans you haven’t met in a dog’s age and you no longer want anything to do with us! What the hell happened to the real Chara?”_

 _“The_ real _Chara?” Chara slammed her hands onto the counter. “The real Chara went to stay with his brother’s family for a few days. She saw the town that he lives in; the life that he got to have! Mew, you should have seen it! There were only monsters living there. No humans! In Hometown, nobody hates my guts or looks down on me. It felt like I could breathe for the first time in years.”_

_“So what?!” Mew Mew yelled. “That makes it okay to just leave behind the people who care about you without saying anything?”_

_“You know what? Fine! I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner.” Chara raked her fingers through her hair. “God… please, Mew. This could be my chance to get out of this cesspool. If I go to Hometown, I might actually get to have a normal life with my brother and sister again! I can start over.”_

_Mew Mew stood. She slammed her fist down. “Fine,” she hissed, glaring to the floor. “If that’s how you really feel, then happy trails. Have fun with your stupid siblings in your stupid Hometown. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”_

_Chara called out to her, but Mew Mew had already stormed out of the apartment. She couldn’t look at that human anymore. She didn’t want to see her cry._

Mew Mew stared at the image of herself and Chara on her phone. Curled up on her mattress, she tried to nurse off the hangover turning her body into a fishbowl for her swimming soul. She didn’t return to the apartment until long after Chara left, having spent all night drinking alone before the bars and clubs kicked her out. Thank God that ghosts didn’t need fleshy bodies to get completely sloshed.

Her eyes focused on Chara. She was like a little sister who grew up faster than the blink of an eye. When they met, Chara was lost; long-since abandoned and with nothing left to love. Mew Mew felt that more than she ever admitted to anyone. It had been over a century since they had met someone who they could relate with like that.

When another ghost Mew Mew met introduced her to the Spectres, she felt like she could build something for herself there. She brought Chara into the fold, hoping that would help her, too. The monsters in the gang were mostly idiots; clowns with big ambitions but no real plan on how to realise them. Chara, however, was different. Even with no path in life, she always acted with a purpose. A steely edge lined her gaze like a knife. Mew Mew could always count on her when things got dicey.

Until now, that was… Chara was gone, probably on the other side of the county by now. Mew Mew bet that she was living it up with pot roasts, sparkled water, and apple pies steaming on the windowsill.

It wouldn’t hurt so much if Chara had just given a little bit more advanced warning. Did she mean so little to that damned redblood that she’d run off without a single word? Mew Mew chucked the phone across the room. Ectoplasm burned her eyes.

“Fine,” she sniffed. “Go on without me. See if I care.”


	8. Hidden Talents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris plots a surprise for Frisk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Great news. I finally know how many chapters this story is going to end with.

Kris played with his food. French fry in hand, he painted abstract ketchup shapes over his plate. Half of a pizza slice laid across from it. Truth be told, Kris wasn’t paying attention to either his lunch or art. His eyes kept darting across Ice-E’s to where Asriel and Frisk were sitting in a separate booth.

They sat across from each other. Two straws protruded from the same extra-large milkshake glass. Asriel and Frisk joked and laughed together, periodically sipping their drink. More than once, they did so at the same time.

“Jeez, would you look at them?” Susie said from Kris’s table. Unlike him, she stared directly at the pair, kicking her legs over the seat and reclining against the window. “Ugh! They’re so… lovey-dovey.”

“If you don’t like it, don’t watch,” Kris answered. He stuck the fry into his mouth and reached for his soda.

Susie flinched. “Didn’t say I don’t like it,” she mumbled. “It’s just… Jeez, Frisk really looks a lot like you. It’s like you grew boobs and started making out with your brother.”

Soda erupted from Kris’s nose. It sprayed all over Susie. “Urgh! Dude!” she screamed. “You got that in my hair!”

He choked too harshly to apologise. Susie grabbed a napkin from the dispenser and quickly rubbed it against her mane. The whole restaurant stared at them, including Frisk and Asriel.

“Kris?” Asriel called worriedly. “You okay?”

“Yeh…” he wheezed. “Wrong pipe…” That convinced the lovebirds to turn back to each other.

“That was so gross,” Susie complained.

“Says the one who fantasised about me with Asriel,” Kris hissed. “Why are you so fixated on him and Frisk anyway?”

Susie looked as far away from him as possible. “No reason…” She suddenly turned back. Her eyes became wider than pizza trays. “I mean, I’m not fixated! Why the hell would I be? It’s none of my concern.”

“Okay, okay,” Kris waved her down, trying to calm her from her fight response. Susie’s scales burned hot-pink. They focused on eating for a few minutes. Eventually, Kris felt brave enough to speak again. “Can I ask you something?”

“Depends what the question is.” Susie narrowed her eyes.

Kris lowered his voice to a whisper. “Have you got any ideas about how I can keep Frisk out of my mom’s house for a few hours?”

“Why? What’s up?”

“Frisk’s birthday is coming up in a few days. I want to bake a cake for her.”

Susie blinked. “You bake?”

“My mom taught me. She does it all the time.”

“Oh.” Susie then scratched through her mane. A grimace twisted her snout when she felt the snot-tainted soda still soaked into it. “You could get Asriel to take her on a date.”

“I thought about that,” Kris nodded. “But where to? They’ve been all around Hometown by this point.”

“There’s the lake just outside of town. People go out swimming there this time of year.”

“That might work. Let me check.” Kris pulled out his phone and texted Asriel.

 _“Hey. Can you keep a secret from Frisk?”_ A few seconds after sending, Asriel glanced at his phone. His thumb moved across the screen.

_“Y?”_

Kris replied with gift and cake emojis, as well as the upcoming date. Frisk asked Asriel who he was texting. Whatever he told her, she seemed to buy it.

 _“What do you need?_ ”

 _“Could you keep her away from mom’s for a while? Maybe take her to the lake?”_ A thumbs up answered the call.

“Great. We’re good,” Kris told Susie. “Would you mind giving me a hand with the cake?”

“You want _my_ help with it?” she exclaimed. “I’ve never baked something before! That was Ralsei’s thing!”

True. With Ralsei’s help, the cake would no doubt be spectacular. However, Ralsei was beyond their reach in the Dark World. “It’s not that difficult,” Kris said. “I just need help mixing the ingredients as quickly as possible.” The less time they spent in the kitchen, the less danger there was of Frisk walking in and spoiling the surprise.

Susie fidgeted while she made her decision. “Sure… I guess I could try.”

Kris smiled. “Thanks, Susie. You’re a lifesaver.”

* * *

On Frisk’s birthday, everything for the mission was set in motion. Even with Susie’s help, it would take Kris at least two hours to finish the cake. Asriel would try to keep Frisk out of the house for at least three to be safe. In case he couldn’t, they had Chara on standby to stall for time. Kris woke early to retrieve all the missing ingredients from the store as soon as Asriel and Frisk left. Susie arrived within ten minutes of him.

“Okay,” Kris said when they stood over the kitchen table. “First thing we need to do is beat the eggs and measure out the other ingredients.”

“Right…” Susie mumbled, obviously overwhelmed by the spread of foodstuffs in front of her.

“If you’re not sure about anything, just read the recipe from the book over there. I’ll take care of the complicated stuff.”

He had done this so many times, Kris could measure the flour and sugar without thinking. Conversely, Susie picked up the milk with care and studied the recipe for several long seconds. She poured the milk slowly into the measuring jug, peering closely at the marked lines.

“Kris, are you sure we need this much?” Susie asked as they mixed two separate bowls.

“Trust me. I know what we’re doing.” He flashed her a smirk.

Susie’s eyes darted between him and the bowls. “Okay… As long as you’re sure…”

They placed both mixtures into the oven. Susie washed the dirty dishes while Kris prepared the icing. Together, they laid the first coat over the cakes once they had cooled. Then Kris took over and picked up the piping bag. Susie watched over his shoulder as Kris squirted butterscotch frosting around the edge of the cakes. He turned his wrist just the right amount to create a swirling pattern with each dot. Switching to a narrower nozzle, Kris then spelled out “Happy birthday, Frisk” in flowing letters.

“Wow,” Susie marvelled. “You’re good at this.”

“My mom’s the best, but I’m pretty happy with it,” Kris grinned at their handiwork.

“Soooo… What about this one?” Susie directed his attention to the second cake. Although adorned with swirls, same as the first, it lacked any special message on top.

Kris gestured to it. “That… is for you.”

“ _Me?!_ ”

“As thanks for helping me. You can take it home and share it with your parents.” He then noticed the corner of her mouth curve downward. Her eyes began to shimmer. Had he misread something? “Susie? Is something wrong?”

“You dork.” Susie bumped her fist into his shoulder. It didn’t hurt, but the length of her arm pushed Kris off balance. “Thanks, Kris…” she said softly. A blush burned across her face. A smile touched his.

Toriel arrived home before anyone else. She helped Kris and Susie tidy up. When they were done, Kris sent the green light to Asriel. Chara arrived shortly afterwards. Within half an hour, Asriel and Frisk walked through the door with their hair wet and beach towels thrown over their shoulders. Frisk discovered one of the cakes on the table. She looked up to Kris and the others in shock.

“Happy birthday, Frisk,” he said.

Hands over her face, Frisk read the message on top. “Did you make this?”

“Kris and Susie did,” Toriel smiled. “I just helped clean up.”

Frisk walked over to Kris and hugged him tightly. Her swimsuit was still wet, and water soaked through her outer clothes onto his. “Thank you, Kris,” she sniffed. “Thank you.” Then she turned and hugged Susie as well. “And thank you, too, Susie.”

Susie froze like a deer in headlights. “Sure… No problem…”

They waited for Frisk and Asriel to dry off and change before lighting the candles. As they sang for her, Kris felt something warm well up inside his chest. This was the first time in his memory that he was able to celebrate one of his sisters’ birthdays. To see Frisk happy on the verge of tears, it was the greatest gift that life could have given him.


	9. Pruning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara confronts Asgore and offers some advice for his marital woes. In the process, her own demons come to haunt her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finished the first draft of the complete story and I'm chuffed that it took less than 50 days from when i started. Took about 5401 total minutes of editing, which makes up for 3.75 days on non-stop work if you care about that kind of data.

Chara became accustomed to the constant aroma of flowers and soil in Asgore’s apartment. He cared for many of his plants above the shop, smiling as he tended to them like they were his children. His pet project appeared to be a set of seven flowers, one in each colour of the rainbow. Asgore’s bulk was larger than a wrestler. Yet, he was gentle in his every manner and action.

It rubbed Chara the wrong way as she watched him tie together another bouquet. Slumping over the table opposite him, she rested her chin atop her crossed arms. “Why do you keep making those?” she finally asked him.

Asgore ceased his humming. He looked up in surprise. “I beg your pardon?”

“The flowers. You’re always making bouquets with them.”

“It’s always good to prune the flowers every now and then,” Asgore smiled. “Making bouquets is a good use of the heads.”

“But you never sell them,” Chara pointed out. “You just give them to Kris to take home.”

“Oh…” Asgore darted his attention back to his work. “There’s… nothing wrong with a father giving his son a bouquet or two.”

“Except that it’s more than a bouquet or two, and they’re not for him. You’re making them for Toriel.” Chara waited for a response and received none. “You know she just throws them in the trash, right?”

Asgore halted amid tying a blue ribbon. He hung his head. “She does? Oh… I had hoped…”

“Kris told me about why you guys divorced. It’s been years, but she still treats you like dirt. So, why do you bother giving her flowers, still?”

Ever since she first arrived in Hometown, Chara had plenty of opportunities to see Toriel and Asgore interact while their children were home. Asgore would always smile and attempt to make small talk. Meanwhile, Toriel acted colder than ice. She barely gave him more than a few curt words before turning her back to him.

In the face of silence, Chara wondered if she had been too blunt. Frisk warned her that she was often abrupt when she spoke to others. She considered apologising when Asgore released a sad, heavy sigh.

“To tell you the truth, I’ve always hoped that she and I could make amends. I thought if I raised the money I lost and showed Tori how much I still love her, she might take me back.”

Chara lifted her head. “Asgore… Not to hurt your feelings, but I’m pretty sure you’re wasting your time.” He nodded, apparently knowing that already. “You should give up on Toriel and go find someone else who appreciates you.”

“I doubt there is anyone else out there quite like Toriel.”

“Why should you look for someone like that? Look, Toriel is a kind friend and a great mom. But she’s a bitch of an ex-wife. You deserve better than the way she treats you.”

“I just want my family back together…”

Chara stared down at the flowers. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. Asriel’s already left home and Kris is graduating next year. Even if you and Toriel patch things up, nothing’s going to be the same as it used to be.” She slumped back into her arms. “At least you can still talk to your family whenever you want.” Chara never had that much after she was adopted. Even now, she had people she wished she could see once again.

“You might as well go find someone who’ll be happy to be with you,” she added. “You wouldn’t be alone anymore, that way.”

Ages passed before Asgore spoke. “I suppose you’re right,” he murmured. “Maybe I am holding onto the past too much.” He ran his hand over his face, fingers combing through his beard. “But… I’m not sure what to do anymore.”

“Does Hometown have any singles’ nights at the bar?” Chara offered.

“Not that I know of… What would you do?”

“I dunno. I’ve never dated before. You could always ask Asriel.”

Asgore laughed. “Goodness! Imagine asking my son for dating advice. Golly, I might have to.” Chara smiled. It was nice to see him in better spirits again. “Thank you, Chara. I believe it’s been long past-due that I spoke with someone about this.”

“Eh, sometimes it pays to be a pessimist,” Chara shrugged. “My friend, Mew, always said I was good at keeping my head on straight.” Then Mew Mew would detach her head and spin it on one finger for a laugh. Chara puffed through her nose. She missed that dummy.

“Is something wrong, Chara?” Asgore asked.

She woke with a start. “Huh? Oh… Nah, it’s nothing.”

“This friend you mentioned… I don’t believe I’ve heard much of your friends back home. What sort of people are they?”

Monsters who have done it tough in the world and had enough of being pushed around. A group of kindred souls found each other and claimed the surrounding neighbourhoods as their own. People knew them as the Spectres. The name worked particularly fitting since many of the gang’s top members were ghosts. If you were angry with the world, you could find a place among them. Chara had found hers. Humans made her life hell. Monsters never did her wrong.

“They’re the type who don’t care about where you’ve come from,” Chara answered. “As long as you have their backs, they have yours.”

Asgore smiled. “They sound like wonderful people.”

Chara fought the urge to scoff. Yes… wonderful. As wonderful as people could be when their primary business included stealing cars, lifting shops, and running illegal gambling dens. It was dirty work with the Spectres, but it paid well and kept Chara fed and off the streets at night. She could never let Asgore, Frisk or anyone else know about all that, though. She stood to lose everything if they ever found out.

_“So what?!” Mew Mew yelled. “That makes it okay to just leave behind the people who care about you without saying anything?”_

Chara excused herself to the bathroom so that Asgore couldn’t see her face any longer. She locked the door and allowed her tears to run free. If she lost Frisk and Kris, what would she have left? She had ruined her friendship with Mew Mew. She couldn’t bear to ruin her family as well.

If only she could cut away her past completely… Then maybe she’d be able to grow into something good.


	10. Envy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Susie pays a visit to the hospital, she follows Asriel and Frisk on their way to for a private moment. Secrets unravel as a result.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I find it interesting that a lot of people imagine Susie as coming from a broken or abusive family. While I do agree she expresses signs of living in a disadvantaged home in Deltarune, I decided that I was going to show Susie's parents as being loving people who just have some rotten luck in life.

The glass doors of the hospital slid open. Susie walked to the front desk. The receptionist looked up at her with a smile that stretched across their entire face. Fangs the length of a person’s arms gleamed in the bright strobe lights.

“Ah, Susie! Hello, darling.”

“Hey,” she replied simply. “Here for the usual.”

“Of course.” The receptionist began typing on their computer.

“Is it cool to take these in?” Susie lifted the plastic bag in her hand. The receptionist examined it and gave a nod.

“That should be fine, darling.”

“Thanks.” With that, Susie headed for the wards.

“You’re such a sweet girl, Susie,” the receptionist remarked. “I’m sure that your mother is proud of you.”

Susie gave a small smile before leaving the room. From then on, she navigated the short series of white corridors. She didn’t need to read the room numbers to know which door to knock on. “Come in,” called its resident.

“Hey, Mom,” Susie greeted as she entered. A dragon much alike to her with shoulder-length hair sat in the bed.

“Hello, Susie.” Her mother, Alison, hugged her tenderly. “How are you today?”

“Fine. Just got off work. Sans let me take these for you.” Susie handed the bag over.

Alison dug inside. A smile shone as she extracted a jumbo pack of corn chips. “Triple-X Ghost Peppers! Oh, my favourite!” Alison hugged Susie. “Thank you so much, sweetheart.”

“No problem, Mom.” Susie stared at her mother’s scales, paled to a dull indigo from prolonged sickness. “So, how are you doing? You feel okay today?”

“Same old, same old. You don’t need to worry about me,” Alison answered with a warm smile. “Are you and your father doing alright at home, still?”

It became Susie’s turn to wear the reassuring smile. “Yeah, Mom. We’re fine. We’re catching up on the bills and have enough food to get by.” Her new job at the general store certainly helped with that.

“I’m glad to hear that, Susie. I hope you’re both not working too hard. Are you at least getting time to spend with your friends? The weather has been lovely outside.”

“Yeah, Mom. A few others and I challenged Kris’s family to a game of handball yesterday. Would have thrashed them if some dog hadn’t stolen the ball midway through.” Alison laughed. “Speaking of, there’s a little something else for you in the bag.”

Alison then discovered a Tupperware box and opened it. The smell of butterscotch filled the room. “Oh? What is this?”

“Kris’s sister had her birthday the other day. We made a cake, and he conned me into baking extra to take home. Thought I’d bring you some.”

“Aww, that is so sweet of him. And thank you, Susie.” The third of a cake came with a paper plate and disposable knife and fork. Alison took one bite and melted. “Delicious.”

Susie chatted with her mother for the next hour. Then the nurse arrived to check in on Alison. Susie chose that moment to get out of the way and kissed her mother goodbye. She left the food and promised to visit again soon.

The second her foot hit the pavement, Susie looked to the sky and let out a sullen breath. It reeked having her mother in hospital for so long. How many years has it been now? Long enough for Susie to know the place like a second home. She wished someone would hurry up and find a cure for that stupid Gerson’s Syndrome.

Susie hung her head as she walked, kicking an empty soda can without a thought. At the intersection, she spotted some older teens. Among them, she recognised Catti’s sister, Catty, along with Asriel and Frisk. When they first met, Susie remembered hearing that cat screech from Kris’s back yard. Catty later proved herself as upbeat as she was airheaded. Barely five seconds after calling Frisk a villainous man-stealer, she laughed hysterically and chatted her up like they were lifelong friends. Now they hung out together on the regular. Susie didn’t understand how some people could become buddies on a dime like that.

The gang parted ways with Frisk and Asriel venturing north. Susie followed them to the park. There, she crept off the beaten track. At the river, Frisk and Asriel sat on the grass. He draped his arm behind her, pulling Frisk close. She leaned her head against the crook of his neck.

Susie watched from behind a tree. She stood completely still, hoping that no one would notice her lurking in the shadows. Time passed without the couple moving from their spot. Neither did Susie. She hugged the tree close.

Why couldn’t that be her? How could those two just sit together like that and everything just be fine that way? Frisk looked to Asriel and kissed him on the lips. Their contact lingered for several seconds. A short break came before they were at it again. Susie’s stomach wriggled inside her. In her mind’s eye, she saw herself where Frisk was. Her hands felt warmth while gangly arms held her waist. And in Asriel’s place, there was…

Susie’s claws raked into bark. She lowered her gaze. Roots twisted through the dark soil, partially buried in fallen leaves. She had tried with Noelle. Susie had really tried to make it work. They dated for a little over a month, and it was among the happiest times in her life. But then Susie found out about Noelle’s dad. Everything fell apart from there.

Her father and Susie’s mother had the same illness. That should have been common ground, but all that Susie could see was life mocking her in the face. Noelle’s family paid the same as hers in medical fees. Though, where the Holidays still lived comfortably in a big house, Susie’s family spent much of her childhood struggling just to make ends meet. A single missed bill could determine whether Alison survived to see the next year or not. Meanwhile, Noelle’s dad was guaranteed his stay at the hospital. It was all thanks to his rich, big-shot wife, Hometown’s mayor.

In the end, Susie had to break it off with Noelle. It shattered her heart to do that to one of the few people she had grown close to. She promised Noelle that she didn’t hate her. Unfortunately, Susie could not love her like that anymore, either. Not with that kind of divide between their circumstances. It was a pain too raw for Susie to want touched. Not even the agony of watching Noelle weep was enough to change Susie’s mind.

Kris was the only one aside from Susie’s father to ever see her cry. That time, he said little and didn’t ask if she wanted to talk about it. Instead, Kris sat down and hugged Susie until her horrid spells passed. Once, it was a trait of his that led her to think the worst in Kris. However, his silent presence became what helped Susie through the following weeks more than anything else.

A snapping twig broke Susie from her reminiscence. Asriel and Frisk rose to their feet. Susie overheard them say goodbye to each other. She retreated completely into her hiding place, watching the pair walk back down the path. When the coast was clear, Susie stepped into the open. Hands in her pockets, she commenced her journey home. Halfway out from the park, though, someone stepped out in front of her from behind another tree.

“Hi, Susie,” Frisk beamed. “How are you today?”

Susie leaped out of her hide. “What?! Frisk?! Wha-what are you… doing… here…?”

Frisk’s smile took on a wicked edge. “The better question is: what were you doing spying on us just now?”

* * *

“There you go, girls! One almond cappuccino and a super-sized latte.”

Frisk thanked the waitress as she set their drinks upon the table. Susie squirmed in her seat. QC’s stereo tracks from the 80’s played overhead. The music did little to ease the tension. Frisk took a tentative sip of her coffee before she spoke.

“So, got something on your mind?”

Susie played dumb. “What? No! No. Why would something be on my mind? Just chilling over here with a friend. With coffee.” Her latte was absolutely delectable. The way in which it scolded Susie’s tongue and mouth as she chugged it down was positively refreshing.

“So, you weren’t hiding out in the park because you wanted something? Maybe something to do with Asriel and me? I’ve picked up that he’s quite the heartthrob around town.”

Thankfully, Susie had swallowed her drink before Frisk’s insinuation could choke her. “What, you think I’m jealous of you guys or something?” She scoffed. “Please! All the girls in his class might fawn over him, but he’s not my type. Straight A’s. Choir boy. Mr Popular. He and I got nothing in common. Nuh-uh. Never gonna happen.”

Frisk smirked. “That’s comforting. So then, why were you peeping on us? I definitely saw you doing it.”

“I don’t know! Why do I do anything? ‘Oh, hey! There’s Susie, doing her own thing without a care. What’s she thinking about? Who knows? She’s weird.’”

“Susie, you’re not weird. But the way you’re acting right now is.” Frisk studied her for a moment. “Have you ever dated someone before?”

Susie looked away. Her face fell. “One time, I did. Didn’t work out, though. There were things going on that I couldn’t deal with. It’s got nothing to do with you guys.”

“That must have been hard,” Frisk sympathised.

“It was my choice. It was better this way.”

They sat without another word for a time, simply enjoying their drinks. “Can I ask you something?” Susie eventually said.

“Sure.”

“You and Asriel… How do you guys… do it?”

Frisk looked confused. “Do it, as in…?

“You know…” Susie fidgeted. “You’re a human and he’s a monster. Aren’t you bothered by what people might think of that?”

“Does it bother you?”

“What?! No!” Susie yelped. “It’s fine! Really! It’s just… I dunno…” She floundered inside her own head for a while. “So, what’s it like? Dating Asriel?”

Frisk smiled. “I don’t think it’s anything that special. I mean, it is to me; but it’s nothing different to what I think other relationships should be like. Asriel is a smart, sweet, wonderful guy, and being with him makes me happy.”

“It doesn’t bother you that you’re different?” Susie asked.

She worried that she had said the wrong thing again. Frisk stared sadly into her mug. “Sometimes there have been people who… don’t really understand well. They don’t think that Asriel and I should work out. But I don’t agree with them. I don’t believe that there’s anything wrong with us being together. Sure, I might not be able to do all the things I might want to with a human boyfriend; but I love Asriel. And really that’s all that matters in the end.”

Susie hung on to her every word. “So, those people who give you grief... Do you just tell them to shove it?”

“Well… Not always,” Frisk grimaced. “See… My parents aren’t a hundred percent comfortable with Azzy and me. We’re… not exactly on speaking terms at the moment.”

“Shit. Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. They can either change their minds or don’t. I’m still going to be happy right where I am.”

Susie nodded, approving. “Nice.”

Frisk then rested her chin atop her hands. “So… Do you like Kris?”

That time, Susie wasn’t so lucky. She coughed up her latte, nearly spraying it all over Frisk. “What?” she spluttered. “Kris?! Sure, I like him! He’s my best friend!”

“Yeah, but I mean like-like.”

The heat rose across Susie’s snout. “What the hell gave you that idea?”

Three fingers extended from Frisk’s hand. “Well, you were spying on Azzy and me today, and asked me what it was like being in an interspecies relationship. That leads me to think you’ve got someone specific on your mind. Someone… human.”

Susie couldn’t speak. Frisk took that as further invitation. “So, I’m left with three suspects. I don’t think I’m the one you’re interested in, so it’s either Chara or Kris. Obviously, one of them is more likely than the other.” That evil glint shone in Frisk’s eye again. “So…? Is it Kris?”

It was as if the walls and ceiling came crashing down on top of Susie. She stared down at her lap. Her face burned. “Is it really that easy to tell?”

“Probably not. My parents tell me that I’m simply good at reading people, is all.”

Moaning, Susie buried her face in her hands. When exactly did Kris start plaguing her thoughts like this? Sure, there were times down in the Dark World where he had impressed her, but those moments hadn’t meant as much back then. Now her heart stirred every time she remembered Kris standing between her and the Spade King.

Susie knew she hadn’t thought of Kris any differently while she was with Noelle. Why was it that after flicking through one cooking magazine during a boring shift, Susie started hoarding them under her bed? She’d hold the pages open for ages, ogling middle-aged human men in sweaters, who smiled at her as they leaned over freshly made casseroles and crumbles. Her fangs would prick her lip as her stomach yearned alongside her soul. Kris’s face danced across the magazines. His cheeky smile and soft, red eyes were directed only at her.

“Have you thought about asking him out?” Frisk then cut off Susie’s response. “On a date?”

“I don’t know… I don’t want to ruin what we’ve got going on now.”

“You could always take the chance. I dated friends in high school, and I’m still on good terms with most of them.” Really? ‘Most’ was supposed to make her feel confident?

“I doubt our friendship is that strong,” Susie mumbled. “Did you know I used to bully Kris?”

Frisk’s eyes revealed that she didn’t. Susie picked up a sachet of sugar and rolled it between her fingers. “I did some mean shit to him for years. Not always, and not just to him, but enough for him to hate my guts. I threatened to bite his face off one time. Then he saved my life later that same day. Honestly, I’m not even sure why I deserved to be friends with him after that.”

For a while, Frisk said nothing. She probably realised that this ‘like-liking’ talk was all for nothing. Susie finished her coffee. It tasted like cold dirt.

“To me, it’s always looked like Kris trusts you,” Frisk said, surprising Susie. “I mean, he did ask if you could come along when we all met at the college. Reuniting with his sisters was a big deal for him. He must have felt it was important to have you there with him. Kris also spends a lot of time with you most days I’ve been here. He even made an extra cake just for you on _my_ birthday.”

Frisk rested her chin on her palm and smiled. “I find it hard to believe that he holds any of the bad things you’ve done against you. Kris cares about you now. I really think it might be worth your while taking a chance with him. So, ask Kris and find out what he wants.”

Susie wrestled with the idea. “So, how would I do that?”

“With Azzy, all I did was ask him out to lunch and we had a great time. It’s different for some people, I think. Just do what comes naturally to you and make your feelings heard.”

Frisk’s phone buzzed. She looked at it and rose from her seat. “I need to get going, Susie. It was nice talking with you.”

“Yeah. Thanks, Frisk.”

“I really hope things work out for you. The two of you would make a cute couple.”

She winked and left Susie blushing madly in her lonesome. Susie then pulled out her own phone and opened the photo gallery. There weren’t many pictures in her albums. She quickly pulled up one Noelle had taken of Susie and Kris during their last field trip. They stood along the cliff with a hydroelectric dam in the background. In the next picture, she and Kris held bunny-fingers behind an unsuspecting Catti and Birdley.

Susie smiled as she flicked through the memories. She never had more fun than she did with Kris. His quiet disposition masked a devilish prankster, who scored a laugh out of Susie more times than not. He probably could have gotten back at Susie at any time and she’d never have seen it coming. He truly was better than her in every way.

She let out a sullen sigh. What would Kris say if she ever confessed that she had a crush on him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I believe that this is the first time I've ever included an explicitly LGBT+ main character in one of my fan fictions. Yay for personal milestones.


	11. Brother Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris and Asriel confide in their troubles with each other.

Perched atop his bed with his back against the headboard, Kris scrolled through his phone. He trawled through site links, reading each new page for several minutes, then returned to the homepage to open the next. Nothing he read gave him confidence.

‘ _Should I study politics?_ ’ Kris wondered. That was what Asriel and Frisk were both doing. However, the idea didn’t appeal to him for any reason beyond that.

‘ _Maybe become a teacher like Mom?_ ’ No. He barely got higher than C+ in half of his classes. What could Kris hope to teach anyone with the way he performed in school?

‘ _Dad’s been teaching me about plants. Maybe botany?_ ’ Kris sighed. As much as he enjoyed sharing in his father’s hobby, he wasn’t that interested.

‘ _What about something else? Accounting?_ ’ He was good at math but wanted something more exciting as a career choice.

‘ _Medicine?_ ’ His school taught monster biology. Alphys barely covered anything about the human anatomy. It seemed silly for him to try becoming a monster doctor.

‘ _Business?_ ’ Was that much different from accounting? Park that idea in the ‘maybe’ pile, Kris decided.

‘ _Law?_ ’ Didn’t appeal to him in the slightest.

‘ _Engineering? Chemistry? Psychology?_ ’ Wasn’t very skilled with tools. Too hard. Looked too complicated.

Kris pressed his head back against the wall. Nothing on this darned college website was sticking out to him. Either he wasn’t interested, or he doubted he’d be any good at it. If he didn’t know what he wanted to do after finishing high school, then what chance to Kris have in making something of himself?

A knock came at the door before it opened. Asriel stepped inside. Kris didn’t think that he needed to knock to enter his own bedroom, yet his brother still did so. “Howdy, Kris. Whatcha up to?”

“Oh… nothing.” Kris stared at his phone as Asriel laid atop his bed. “Just looking at college degrees.”

Asriel smiled. “Find anything you like?”

“Not really,” Kris mumbled. “It doesn’t look like I’d fit with most of these. Maybe I’m just not cut out to go to college.”

“Hey, come on. That’s not true. There’s lots of different things you could study. There’s bound to be something you’d be great at.”

Kris sighed. “Thanks, Azzy. But I’m not smart like you are. I’d probably just crash and burn if I tried.”

Asriel sat up. “Don’t think like that, Kris. There’s plenty of things you’re better at than me.”

“Like what?”

“Well, for starters, you’re really good at playing the piano. Plus, your writing and artwork are amazing.”

“Thanks. I’m sure those will get me great jobs to pay the bills with,” Kris said sardonically.

“They might. Seriously, Kris! You’ve got incredible talents and you should try exploring them. Check it out online. There are plenty of art degrees you could try out. You should, like, become a composer or something. Or an artist. Or maybe do something in theatre. Your fake blood pranks are pretty realistic these days.”

Kris scrolled his phone to the link for the college’s art studies. Up until now, he thought that was nothing more than a joke course; something that wouldn’t take him anywhere. “You really think so?”

“Sure, I do! I mean, how do you think movies and video games get made? It wouldn’t be as much fun if they didn’t have people who knew a lot about music and script-writing.”

The web page listed several career paths that would be available through the course. The options Asriel had given were on it. “Huh…”

“I’ll tell you what,” Asriel said. “ECC usually holds an open day before the end of summer. You and I could go down and check out some of the courses together. You can then see for yourself if there’s anything you’d be interested in.”

An entire day hanging out with Asriel at his college… “That sounds… great,” Kris answered. “Thanks.”

“Anytime. It’ll be cool if you got into ECC, too. That way we could always see each other on campus, and you’d be closer to Frisk and Chara.”

A smile warmed Kris’s face. “That’d be nice.” Then he thought of their mother and father… and Susie… “I’d have to say goodbye to everyone here for a long while, though, won’t I?”

“Yeah,” Asriel sighed, crossing his arms underneath his head. “That’s been the worst part about being in Ebott City. It’s so far from home. I’ve really missed seeing my friends and family all the time. You, especially.”

Kris became lost for words. Asriel had plenty more as he smiled to the ceiling. “I’m pretty sure that Frisk missed you even more than I did. She kept asking about you. What were you like as a kid? What were your hobbies? What was your favourite food?” He laughed. “I honestly felt kind of jealous.”

“I’m sure there wasn’t that much to talk about,” Kris said.

“That’s the thing. There was loads to talk about. Chara and I didn’t talk all that much, but she used to ask about you, too. She wanted to know if you ever told me about them.”

Sorrow and shame filled Kris’s chest. “What did you tell her?”

“That you didn’t talk much about your first family, but I knew you missed them dearly. I think Chara’s been much the same.”

Kris rolled to stare at the wall. “Does that make me a bad brother? Should I have talked about them more while I was a kid? All that I tried to do was forget about everything that happened before Mom took me in.”

“Hey, Kris. Come on… It’s okay. You went through some awful stuff when you were little. Nobody blames you for wanting to keep those memories buried. In fact, Frisk said I was the first person she ever told about you, aside from her parents. Losing both you and Chara hurt her more than I think I’ll ever understand.”

“I still can’t believe you didn’t figure out we were related,” Kris said, leering over his shoulder.

“I will admit, I should have realised that Frisk’s legal name was the same as your sister’s. Really should have picked up on that. I’m sorry.”

Kris smirked. “And I thought Dad was clueless. Maybe it’s a Dreemurr thing.” A pillow crashed into the wall past him.

“Hey!” Asriel complained. They both laughed. Then Asriel became serious. “So… Are you okay with me dating Frisk? I know we haven’t really talked about it… And, technically, it’s not breaking any rules… But it’s still confusing and weird… I just wanted to check…?”

Long after Asriel stopped fumbling over his words, Kris was still thinking. His feelings on the matter were a tangled web he’d been unravelling for months. Now he suddenly had to verbalise his answer to someone.

“At first, it was a shock,” Kris admitted. “I honestly didn’t expect to see you and Frisk like that. I kind of imagined her boyfriend would be some buff human guy in a tank top.”

“Aww, come on! Not you, too!” Asriel moaned. Kris had absolutely no idea who else had made such assumptions, but it was enough to make his brother bury his face into his mattress. “I’ve tried bulking up at the gym! But it’s _sooooo haaaaarrrrrd!_ ”

Kris lifted one brow. That was one way he could try to outdo Asriel. He wondered what Susie would say if he toned out his abs…

“Anyway,” he continued. “I guess I don’t have any problems with you and Frisk going out. If anything, it actually helps.”

“How do you mean?”

“I don’t know how best to say it.” Kris sighed. “To be honest, I haven’t really felt like a part of the family here for a while. The first few years were nice. I felt safe and happy with you, Mom, and Dad. But I wanted to be more like you guys. I wanted to be a monster. When I finally realised that just wasn’t possible, I felt like an outsider; like I’d never properly fit in.”

“But… you know that we love you, right?” Asriel worried. “You know that we’ve always wanted you around?”

“I know that. But it still doesn’t change the fact that I wasn’t like any of you. It felt like there was a glass wall put between everyone else and me.” Kris paused to gather his thoughts. “I guess now that you and Frisk are in a relationship, that’s a way I could properly feel like a part of this family again.”

There was quiet, leading Kris to worry he had said the wrong thing. Asriel soon smiled and chuckled. “Golly… Now I know I won’t have to seek your blessing if I want to propose. Not that I’m planning to!” he added quickly.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to put you on the spot.”

“Don’t worry about it. At least you approve of us. That’s all I was worried about. I just wish Frisk’s parents felt the same.”

“They don’t like you?” Kris asked.

“Haven’t met them before. I’d like to if that’d help them change their minds about me. Unfortunately, I don’t think Frisk has spoken to them since study week. I’m worried about her. I don’t want to be the reason she loses her parents again.”

“There are some parents you can afford to lose.” The bitter words flew out from Kris’s mouth. He regretted them. Frisk’s parents probably weren’t anything like the ones he had suffered with. So, Kris sought to atone. “Would you like me to talk with her?”

Asriel considered the offer. “Thanks, Kris,” he sighed, “but I think Frisk and I need to deal with this ourselves. Thanks for listening, though.”

“No problem.” Kris laid on his back. Neither he nor Asriel uttered another word until their mother called them for dinner. Kris wished that he could do something for his family.

Maybe he should call Susie later. She most likely would not have the answer, but she usually helped Kris set his head on straight.


	12. Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Susie's birthdays are typically lackluster affairs. This year, however, proves to be her happiest beyond measure.

“Susie! Over here!”

Susie heard MK call from across the diner. Their friends waved her over to their booth. “Happy birthday!” they cheered.

“Th-thanks, guys.” A wide, nervous smile stretched taught across Susie’s face. Until now, she had never once celebrated her birthday with a friend, let alone her entire class. She had always kept the date hidden, let it slip by unnoticed. It kept her out of the spotlight; away from eyes that might judge her lot in life if they peered too close.

Sharing this secret meant stepping into the unknown. To be here spending lunch on her birthday with people outside of her parents… It was a new experience. Butterflies danced in Susie’s stomach.

“Don’t just stand, there,” Jockington grinned. “Come on and sit down, Birthday Girl.”

Susie slid into the seat beside him. She met Noelle’s gaze as they sat face-to-face. Noelle gave her a kind smile. Susie could only express a tentative one in return. Their classmate, Catti, was on the clock and soon walked up to take their orders. With her next to the table, it felt like all of Susie’s friends were here for her. All except Kris…

_“Sorry, Susie. I’ve got a lot I need to do today. I’ll catch you later. Promise.”_

Susie tried not to let her disappointment show in front of the others. They were enjoying themselves and she didn’t want to bum anyone out. While they waited for their food, her friends handed a set of birthday cards. Noelle put the most effort into hers. It was printed with logos from Susie’s favourite bands with a heartfelt message inside.

By the time she finished reading every card, everyone else had received their plates. Catti returned with the steak sandwich and fries that Susie ordered. Next to it, she placed a slice of torte cake. Susie stared at it.

“Um… Did anyone order this?”

“Noelle did,” Catti answered monotonously.

“It’s for you, Susie,” Noelle blushed.

Susie smiled. “Thanks, Noelle.” The girl laughed bashfully, as though to play down the gesture as much as possible. Susie was grateful that they were still friends. She started off with the cake. It tasted divine.

As they ate, everyone else became engrossed in talk about the latest superhero movie due to release at the end of fall. Birdly boasted about how he was the first to analyse the trailer for every little secret to expect. Either he did or merely read someone else’s blog about the movie, Susie figured both were as likely as the other. All the while, she merely listened; simply happy to be present in the conversation.

If this was what spending her birthday with friends felt like, why had she gone this long alone in her life? A short time ago, Susie had a reason for that. Now that she looked back on the years, it all seemed so silly to her. There was almost no other place that she’d rather be.

* * *

If given the choice, Susie probably would have spent all day at QC’s. Alas, a four-hour shift beckoned her. Sans wasn’t the kind of boss to let her off work simply because it was her birthday. He was, however, the kind who switched the store’s radio to her favourite station and gave free corndogs to snack on.

As 6:00 PM rolled around, Susie wrung her floor mop and tossed out the bucket. “Sans! I’m knocking off!” she called, freeing her mane from its ponytail. “I’m taking the old bread and milk home.”

“Sure, kiddo. Just leave some for me,” Sans replied lazily. His sockets never left the joke book he read as he kicked his short skeleton legs over the service counter. “Have a good night. Say hi to your pops for me.”

“Thanks. See ya on Monday.” Susie waved whilst she passed with a bag in her arms.

There was still plenty of daylight to guide Susie home. Over these past few months, she felt that she could lift her head a lot higher around town. She wasn’t alone anymore. She had a decent job with cool perks. Her family ate enough that she didn’t need to slink about for scraps all day. Every previous birthday Susie could remember had meant nothing but dejection and self-pity. This year, though, she actually felt happy with her life. She felt proud of what she had.

The lights were on in the living room when she arrived home. Susie opened the door and carried her bag to the kitchen. There, she encountered several surprises.

“Kris?!”

The dork turned from the table and smiled at her. “Oh! Hey, Susie. Happy birthday.”

She would have asked what he was doing in her house, but someone else’s presence took priority. “Mom? You’re here, too!”

Alison looked up. “Hello, sweetheart. Happy birthday.” Susie crouched so that she could hug her mother in her wheelchair. “I was feeling better today, so I decided to pop out of the hospital for a bit just to see you.”

“I’m so glad you’re home.” Tears ran down Susie’s face. Even if it was just for one night, this meant the world to her. “But… What’s Kris doing here? Don’t get me wrong, dude. I’m glad you’re here, but…?”

“We invited him to stay for dinner tonight,” her father, Bernie, answered with a smile. “Seemed only fair. He’s the one who cooked the food and all.”

Susie then looked over the table. Plates were already set around a whole chicken roast, grilled sausages, boiled potatoes, and green salad. Ice cubes floated in a pitcher of soda. In the heart of it all stood a chocolate cake with her name scrawled in icing.

“Kris spent all day making this,” Alison told her.

Susie thanked God that she was already crying. This would have been a stupid thing to have set her off, but it was more than she ever expected. There hadn’t been this much food on that table at once for so long; and Kris had made it all for Susie and her family.

“What do you think?” he asked. A broad grin stretched across his cheeks.

On impulse, Susie wrapped her arms around Kris, crushing him. “It’s great, Kris,” she wept. “Thanks a lot.”

“Let’s not let the food get cold,” Bernie called. “Dig in.”

The four of them sat around the table. Susie grabbed a buttered roll and stuck it into her mouth. It was soft and warm. Its gooey centre tasted sweet and salty. Her tongue sang over a seasoned drumstick. Susie’s soul flew into the heavens.

After dinner, her parents gave Susie a gift. It wasn’t some cheap trinket or bag of candies like she was used to receiving. Susie’s breath caught as she unwrapped a small box containing a silver pendant. A small amethyst gleamed in its centre.

“Mom… Dad… This is…” Expensive. Exorbitant. Simply way too much for either of them to spend on her.

“Susie,” her father smiled, “ever since you started working, you’ve helped make life a lot easier around here. Your mother and I believed that you deserved something special for your birthday this year.”

“But… how much did this cost?”

“Not enough to put us in the red. So, it’s certainly not something for you to worry about,” her mother answered. “Go on. Try it on.”

The clasp was large enough for Susie’s scaly claws to handle. She fastened the pendant around her neck. It dangled beneath her collarbone. “It looks beautiful on you,” Alison beamed.

Susie cradled the pendant between her fingers. Its gemstone matched her scales almost to the precise hue. “Thanks, Mom,” she murmured. Thanks, Dad.” Her voice trembled.

Kris then handed Susie a large envelope. “Sorry it’s not much,” he said quietly. “Hope you still like it.”

Inside, Susie could hardly call what she found a card. It was more of a poster, folded in on itself multiple times until it fitted into the envelope. Kris left a message in the centre, but there was more with it. Across the entire card were dozens of other messages. A little face was drawn next to each one. Susie recognised every character from the Dark World.

Ralsei’s picture sat to the left of Kris’s. Green, cursive handwriting spelled a sappy greeting with hearts dotting every ‘I.’ On the right, a message from Lancer was barely legible, complete with his dopey, baby Santa Claus laugh. Susie covered the stupid smile on her lips. There was another from Seam, Clover, and even one in Rouxls Kaard’s mangled Shakespeare impression. Each one was written in a different style, matching their personalities, all wishing Susie a happy birthday. It must have taken Kris hours to make them all. Who else could have possibly written them?

“Thanks, Kris,” she chuckled. “That’s awesome.” He smiled brightly in return.

Her father soon turned off the lights. Seventeen candles burning atop the cake cast the darkness away.

“Happy birthday to you…” they sang.

“Happy birthday to you…”

A new tear broke down Susie’s cheek.

“Happy birthday, dear Susie…”

A soft sob rocked her chest.

“Happy birthday to you.”

Susie blew the candles out. In the seconds before the lights came on again, she quickly dried her eyes.

Bernie cut the cake for everyone. The edge of Susie’s fork glided through its soft layers. White cream squelched out from under the gentle pressure. Susie stuck the bite into her mouth. It was sweet and fluffy like a dream. Alison swooned after tasting her piece. Kris’s face burned red as she asked him to bake for them more often, praising him as a master chef.

At nine, Susie’s father left to drive her mother back to the hospital. She and Kris stayed behind to clean up. There was still food left over from dinner. Susie made a rare use of their storage containers.

“Thanks for tonight, Kris,” she said at last. “I had a really great time.”

Kris threw the dishcloth aside to dry. “You’re welcome. Sorry I didn’t get to spend any time with you guys this morning.”

“That’s okay. This more than makes up for it.” Susie turned to face him. A blush seared across her snout. “I’m… I’m really grateful that you did this for me. You didn’t have to go through all the trouble.”

“I wanted to, though. You’ve been a huge help to me over the past few months. It’s because of you I was able to reconnect with Frisk and Chara. I was able to get my family back because you were there to support m-”

His lips stopped. Susie pressed hers against them. She held his face in her hands until she broke away moments later. Kris stared at Susie. His mouth still hung agape.

“I… Um… I…” Susie stammered. “Sorry… dude… I… just…”

“Could we… do that again…?” Kris asked in a daze.

Susie’s body worked faster than her brain did. She kissed him once more. This time, Kris pressed back with equal earnest. They stopped and started as their breaths allowed until Susie finally learned to inhale through her nose. His skin was so warm. His lips were so soft. His hands were gentle as they gripped her arms. Susie combed carefully through Kris’s silken hair. He smelled sweet of apples.

They nestled onto the couch, barely watching the television. Kris laid on Susie’s shoulder as she held him close. They each came clean about how they felt for each other. It was a sense of exposure that Susie thought she had overcome through her first relationship with Noelle. However, with Kris it was like moulting. It took a little time and effort to dig out the sensitive part of the issue. Susie trusted Kris, though, so she didn’t hold the truth from him.

Kris’s phone soon rang. He pulled away from Susie to check the message that popped onto his screen. “Mom’s five minutes away,” he sighed. “Should go wait for her in the driveway.”

When they stood, Susie decided she needed one more kiss before he left. Kris pulled her close. She held him tightly. Once again, Kris’s phone tore them apart. “Happy birthday, Susie,” he said to her.

She gave him a tender smile. “Thanks, Kris.”

It was the happiest birthday that Susie ever had.


	13. Family Tensions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trouble in Ebott City rears its head to threaten everything that Chara holds dear.

“We’re going to die!”

“Hold it together! We can do this!”

“I’m out of HP!”

“Hang on! I’ll revive you!”

“You’re not going to last much longer!”

“Almost there!”

“No, Azzy!”

“Kris!”

The evil macaroni boss struck Asriel with a sudden, rapid-fire attack that filled their view. He screamed, perishing as Kris could only watch helplessly. ‘Game Over’ flashed across the screen. Placing down their controllers, the two boys groaned in frustration.

“This game is intense,” Asriel said as he massaged his face.

“Those reviews were right,” Kris grumbled. “This is hell painted like a kid’s game.”

“You almost had him,” Frisk offered encouragingly from the couch. “I’m sure you’ll get him next time.”

“My fingers are cramped,” Asriel whined. He held his controller up to her. “You want to try?”

Frisk shook her head. “I’m good. That looks way too hard for me.”

“What about you, Chara?”

Chara lounged her head atop her arm across from Frisk. She never had the chance to play video games like this one since her parents died. The people who adopted her thought they were a waste of time, and Chara never had been able to afford a console after she ran from home. The best she got to play with were a few free apps on her phone.

“Nah,” Chara answered. She watched Kris and Asriel struggle through the last hour and knew this particular game was out of her league. Asriel decided a snack break was needed while Kris went to the bathroom.

Something knocked against the front door almost hard enough to break it from its hinges. “Police! Open up!”

Chara jolted. Cops outside the house were bad news. Why were they here? Where was the best way for her to sneak out? Chara then remembered Frisk sitting nearby; alert and curious. If she ran for it now, Frisk and Kris would suspect something. Before Chara could work out her next move, Toriel walked through and opened the door.

“Oh, Officer Undyne,” she greeted. “What seems to be the matter?”

A blue fish-woman with a scarlet ponytail saluted on the front step. “Good afternoon, ma’am. I’m looking for a person named Charlotte Mayweather. I was told by your ex-husband that she’s currently at this house.”

‘ _Shit!’_ Chara knew she had to bail, but now Frisk would know that something was definitely up. Indecision froze her in place, and it was killing her.

“Charlotte?” Toriel asked, puzzled. “Oh! You’re referring to Chara. Yes, she’s in the living room right now.”

Chara jumped to her feet, yet she couldn’t run anywhere. Undyne stepped inside. She looked right at her and smirked with a row of shark fangs. “Yep. Matches the mugshot, alright.”

“What’s going on?” Both Kris and Asriel returned to the room, blocking Chara’s route through the kitchen.

What should she do? Fight the copper or slip past her and flee? Where would she go, though? Both options left Chara screwed in the eyes of her family. ‘ _Damn it! What do the police want with me here in Hometown?_ ’ She hadn’t done anything close to illegal since she moved in.

“Officer, what is all of this about?” Toriel voiced her thoughts. She looked over to Chara and saw her panic. “Has Chara done something wrong?”

“That’s what I’m here to find out,” Undyne said, flashing a set of handcuffs. “I’ve got some questions for this punk, so I need to bring her in.”

“Are those really necessary?” Frisk exclaimed.

Chara allowed Undyne to lock her hands behind her back. From what she had said, she wasn’t exactly arresting Chara. Perhaps she only wanted to ask questions and was just grandstanding with the cuffs. If she went quietly, Chara might be able to talk her way out and not raise concern.

“Undyne,” Toriel insisted, “what exactly do you suspect Chara to be involved with?”

“Your little guest, here, is a member of the Spectres street gang. There’s been a string of crimes committed by that bunch in Ebott City, and I’m hoping that Miss Mayweather can shed some light on some of them.”

“Crimes?” Asriel gawped. “What sort of crimes?”

“A few different things,” Undyne listed. “Armed robbery; grand theft; money laundering; assault. That kind of stuff.”

“What?!”

“I haven’t done anything,” Chara hissed, more for her siblings than that damned cop.

Undyne shoved her towards the door. “You and I can talk all about it down at the station.”

Before they left, Chara cast one last glance at her brother and sister. Frisk’s face paled as she reached for Asriel. Kris stood frozen, staring after Chara with a stricken look. Another shove from Undyne drove her to face forward.

She could feel the cracks forming around her world.

* * *

The interrogation room was cold, illuminated with a single strobe light. Chara sat on a chair that was bolted to the floor. She rested her arms across the table and stared at her hands. Once you’ve seen one interrogation room, you’ve seen them all. Chara wasn’t afraid of what might happen inside these four walls.

“Is there anything i can get you?” a tall skeleton asked her politely. His skull gave him a perpetual smile to match his cheery demeanour. If this were going to turn into a ‘good cop, bad cop’ routine with the fish, Chara knew who would play which role. “A glass of water? Some pretzels? A warm sweater, perhaps?”

Chara leered at him. “My wrists are chaffing. It’d be nice to get these taken off,” she said, jostling the handcuffs she still wore.

The skeleton’s eye sockets melted into a sorry shape. “I’m… not supposed to take handcuffs off people under questioning, unfortunately.”

Chara gave a sweet smile. “Come on. Can’t you loosen these just a little bit?”

Before the skeleton could crack, the door slammed open. “Nice try, punk,” Undyne growled as she walked in. “Papyrus, why don’t you go on patrol for a bit? I’ll handle this.”

Papyrus the skeleton gave a rigid salute. “Of course! You can count on the great Officer Papyrus to keep our streets safe! No thefts shall be committed. No walls will be vandalised. Not one scrap of litter will be left without being disposed of in the appropriate waste can!”

“Yeah, yeah. Go on, ya big goof,” Undyne smirked, waving him off. Papyrus raced out of the room laughing like a late-80’s cartoon villain. As soon as he was gone, the bad cop look returned to Undyne’s mug. She dropped a folder on the table in front of Chara.

“So,” Undyne said after switching on a recording device, “I hear that Spectres don’t often travel this far out of Ebott City. Enjoying Hometown so far?”

“I’m just here to be with my brother and sister,” Chara replied crisply. “We were separated after our parents died. We’ve been reconnecting.”

“Yeah, related to the Dreemurrs’ youngest kid, aren’t you? They seemed pretty surprised back at the house. Ever tell them about you and your gang buddies?”

“Have you got a point?” Chara glowered. “Can we just get to it already?”

“Works for me.” Undyne flipped the folder open. “On the 17th of June, three people broke into a car dealership in the middle of the night. They made off with three used cars and $5,000 worth of property. ECPD identified the culprits as Spectre members.”

She showed Chara a photo taken from a CCTV camera. Chara recognised all three of the monsters who broke through the back door. The idiots didn’t think to cover their faces. A sense of relief washed over Chara, though. Mew Mew wasn’t one of them. The better news for her was that she and Frisk drove to Hometown on the 6th and had been here ever since. If this was all that Undyne wanted to talk about, then Chara was in the clear.

“Since the break-in, the thieves haven’t been found in their usual hangouts. ECPD knows that you’re close friends with these guys. So, how about you lend us a hand? If they went into hiding, where would they go?”

Chara laughed. Was this her first day on the job? “You seriously expect me to rat them out? What do I gain from telling you anything?”

“If you give me an honest answer, this conversation can end here,” Undyne glowered. “Otherwise I might be tempted to dig a little deeper into your involvement with the Spectres. That’s going to mean we get to spend more time together. How does that sound?”

Under any different circumstance, Chara would have told her to shove it and ridden through whatever came after. However, if Undyne did as she said and found something incriminating, the ugly truth might find its way to Frisk and Kris. Chara was innocent this time, but she had been involved in other Spectre heists. She did not want Hometown’s pigs to drag those secrets out into the open.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Chara said. “I haven’t been in contact with anyone from the gang since I got here. If those three idiots disappeared, then I’m the last person who’d know where they went.”

That was partly true. Where they ended up would depend on what happened to the cars after leaving the dealership. If they were sold off with new plates, Jacko and the others would probably lay low somewhere out of town. If shit went wrong instead, they’d lay low in the flowerbeds.

“You sure you want to play that card?” Undyne asked. Chara heard the threat beneath her words.

“I don’t know everything that goes on with the gang. No one does except for the guys on top. That’s how we keep each other safe from you pigs when you come knocking.”

Undyne became silent for a while. Chara kept up the hard glare she wore. Never drop your guard in front of a cop, otherwise they’ll find something that they can use. “Alright, punk. That’ll do for now. You’re free to go. But know that I’ll haul your ass back when I’ve got more questions for ya.”

It was a surprise, but Chara didn’t stick her nose up at it. Her hands were freed, and Undyne showed her out to the front desk where Chara collected her belongings. She left the station before anyone could think of another reason to hold her there.

Undyne turned to the dog sitting at the desk beside her. “Did you get anything from her phone, Doggo?”

Doggo pulled the burning biscuit from his mouth. “We copied the data and sent it to Ebott City for them to crack.”

“Guess that’s the best we can do here,” Undyne grumbled. She had hoped that something more exciting would have happened.

“Not every day we get to take forensic evidence from a gangster,” Doggo smirked. He leaned back in his chair. “Coolest thing I’ve ever done in my career.”

Undyne allowed herself to grin. “Yeah. It’s a change from the usual, to be sure. Let me know if the guys in Ebott come back with anything.” She retreated towards her office before scowling back at Doggo. “And put that thing out! What the hell have I told you about smoking in here?!”

* * *

Chara walked through town with her head low. She thought about returning to Kris’s house, but he and Frisk would be waiting with questions that Chara didn’t want to deal with right now. Instead, she went to the pizzeria. A bowl of chilli fries and a large soda helped cool her head. Then, after she loitered there for an hour, Chara went to Asgore’s place. The shop was closed, so no one would bother her. However, luck was not with her today. Inside, she ran into Frisk.

“Chara? What happened? Is everything okay?”

“It’s fine,” Chara pushed past. “Cops just wanted to ask some questions.”

“What kind of questions?” Frisk asked frantically.

“Some pals of mine in Ebott did something stupid. I didn’t do anything, I swear.”

“Why do you think I believe otherwise?” Chara walked away, but Frisk followed her. “Chara! Why are you acting like this? What’s gotten you so worked up?”

“Nothing! Just leave it!”

“Then what was it that your friends did? Is that what the problem is?”

“Frisk, I’m serious. Drop it!”

“Why?” Frisk exclaimed. “Was it any of those things that police officer said? Did they steal something? Hurt someone? I thought you said that the gang you’re in didn’t do stuff like that!”

“I lied!” The words erupted from Chara before she could think.

Frisk froze. “You what?”

“ _I. Lied._ The things that cop said? They’re all true! Stealing; break-ins; the other shit? The Spectres do all of that!” Chara exclaimed. “Have you ever spent more than five minutes where I live? It’s a rough neighbourhood. It’s our gang’s turf. Why do you think I told you and Asriel to stay in the car when you picked me up?”

“So, the gang does hurt people,” Frisk accused. “Is that what you do, too? Please tell me it’s not.”

“Why do you think I’ve been in and out of prison so many times?” Chara jabbed her chest. “Yes, I’ve robbed people! Yes, I’ve hurt a few people who deserved it! It was either do dirty shit for the Spectres or live out on the street! I did what I had to in order to survive! I wasn’t lucky in life like you were!”

Frisk grew furious. “You think my life was lucky?! Our parents were killed! I lost both my brother and sister through foster care! I spent the last eleven years feeling alone in the world just like you did!”

“At least you got new parents who gave a damn about you!” Chara hissed. “All mine did was ride my back every day without any slack! And Kris? You and I both remember it wasn’t Toriel or Asgore who took him that day. Do you know why Kris ended up here and why he never talks about his last family? I’ll tell you what I think! They were absolute scum and completely screwed him over!”

“Chara, I am sorry that you and Kris went through what you both did,” Frisk said, her voice cracking, “but that is not the issue we’re talking about here.”

“Oh, of course! We were talking about how much of a disappointment I am to you! Was that right? That seems to be everyone’s problem with me. I’m never good enough for their expectations.”

“I never said I was disappointed!” Frisk yelled. “Well… yeah, okay! I am! But not like you’re thinking! God, Chara! Why weren’t you just honest with me this whole time?”

“Did you really expect me to believe that either you or Kris would want anything to do with me if you knew what I actually did with my life?”

“We might have if you had told us the truth! Now I can’t tell what else you’re hiding from me!”

“Do you really want to know? I’ll tell you! Every single rotten detail if you want.” Frisk didn’t respond. Horror flashed through her eyes. Chara scoffed. “I thought so. Little Miss Golden Child doesn’t have the stomach. Everything works out so well for you in the end, you can’t stand to look at the ugly mess your siblings became.”

Tears broke down Frisk’s face. “That is not fair, Chara.”

“Well, guess what? Nothing in my life has been fair. And if I’m being honest; if I had the chance to take back joining the Spectres, I wouldn’t. I’d do it all over again, because when I had nothing and everyone else looked down on me, the Spectres took care of me. They’re all a bunch of stupid louts, but those monsters treated me far better than any human ever did growing up. They were my family before you showed up, flaunting everything that life gave you that I couldn’t have!”

“What do you want from me, Chara?!” Frisk cried angrily.

“I want to be left alone!”

The silence became too loud. Frisk lowered her face. She trembled all over. “Fine… If that’s what you really want, then I’ll go.”

She turned and walked briskly to the door. Frisk bumped into Asgore as he entered but said nothing. Asgore called after her to no avail. He looked over to Chara for an explanation. She couldn’t bear to meet his gaze. Instead, she made her way upstairs.


	14. Burned Bridges

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara returns to Ebott City alone. However, when she has scorned everyone she cares about, where is she to go?

Chara pressed her head against the window. The glass vibrated as the bus drove, rattling her brains and numbing her skin. It could not keep her thoughts at bay, though. Over and over, those harsh, angry words she and Frisk had thrown at each other replayed themselves.

_“Chara! Where do you think you’re going?” Asgore exclaimed as she crammed her things into her bags._

_“Home,” she answered through gritted teeth._

_“Why so suddenly?! What about Kris and Frisk? Shouldn’t you tell them first?”_

_“It doesn’t matter. They’re better off without me anyway.”_

_She screwed up. She had royally screwed everything up. First that damned Undyne blew the lid on her dealings with the Spectres, then Chara took it all out on Frisk. The things she had said… There was no way that she could take them back. By now, Frisk would have told Kris and Asriel about the whole ordeal. She probably hated her._

_“That is not true,” Asgore tried to reason. “I understand that things may seem bad now, but I’m sure that if you go and talk with Frisk again…”_

_“Talking is not going to fix this,” Chara snarled. It felt like she could shatter apart at any moment. She slung one bag over her shoulder and held the other under her arm. “I’m sorry, Asgore. But nothing good was ever going to come out of being here. I should have known that from the start.”_

_“Please don’t go, Chara,” he pleaded. “Think about your siblings! Running off without at least saying goodbye is going to hurt them!”_

‘It’s better than if I stay here.’ _Chara pushed past Asgore. He followed her down into the shop for all the good that did him. “Thanks for letting me stay, Asgore. Take care of yourself.”_

_“Chara!” But the bell rang over the door as she left and never looked back._

The sun was setting when they pulled into to the bus station in Ebott City. By the time she reached her block, the sky was pitch black. Several streetlamps were either burned out or flickering on the cusp of death. The tyres of a car screeched in the distance as someone turned at speed. A sour stench wafted on the wind from the polluted river due north. Chara took it all in. She was home again.

What would Mew Mew say if Chara showed up at the apartment unannounced? Things between them had barely ended any better than with Frisk. Chara stood outside the building. Her thoughts spun their wheels as she stared at the door. What was she even doing back here? She was even less welcome than at the Dreemurr house. Shoving her keys back into her pocket, Chara picked up her bags and shuffled away.

“Chara?”

She stopped. Chara’s breath caught. Gingerly, she turned around to see Mew Mew behind her. Mew looked stunned. Her tail curled behind her legs. Chara felt her throat turn dry when she made a flimsy attempt to say something.

“Hey…”

“You’re back,” Mew Mew whispered. Chara struggled to answer before Mew gave a small smile. “You should have called.”

“Sorry… I was dealing with shit,” Chara mumbled. “Didn’t think to.”

“How’d things go in Hometown?” When Chara did not respond, Mew Mew’s ears drooped. “Not great, huh?”

“You could say that.”

“Where the hell were you wandering off to? You just got here. Weren’t you at least going to drop your things inside?”

“I… I don’t… um…”

Neither of them could maintain eye contact. Chara felt that she should leave, yet her feet were rooted to the spot. If not here, then where else was she going to go? Two repelling forces crushed the life out of her.

“Hey,” Mew Mew mumbled. “Do you wanna… get something to eat?”

* * *

A jukebox sang in the back of the bar. While not as glamourous as many other establishments in the classier parts of Ebott, this place had its own special charms. One was its surly, cop-hating owner who’d sympathetically shelter any Spectre who got the fuzz steamed for whatever reason. The second was that the bar served the best-damned nachos in the precinct.

Hot cheese stretched from the chip that Chara hoisted from her plate. She shovelled it through a generous amount of salsa before cramming the lot into her mouth. ‘ _Habanero peppers, burn my troubles away_.’

Across the booth, Mew Mew drank deeply from her dark ale. “So,” she began, “I’m guessing it’s because shit went down, but I’m going to ask anyway. Why did you come back? I thought you were pretty set on spending time with your family.”

Chara prodded at her food. “My brother and sister found out what the Spectres are really about. It freaked them out, as you could expect. Frisk said things. I said things. I then decided that they were better off without me in the picture. So, here I am.”

“Damn, girl…”

“Hometown’s police called me in today,” Chara continued. “They wanted to know about Jacko and his guys. I heard they stole a couple of cars from a dealer.”

“Yeah, I know about that,” Mew Mew said in a low voice. “Don’t worry. Those dumbasses are hiding out until the heat dies down.”

“That’s all I need to know,” Chara chirped, taking a swig from her beer.

“How many times have I told those morons to wear masks when on a job?!” Mew ranted. “It’s like every other week that one of them gets busted!”

“Without a doubt, you and I the only ones with more than two brain cells to rub together.” Chara and Mew Mew clicked their glasses to that.

“Though, the boss isn’t too bad, either,” Mew credited. “Speaking of, it’s good timing that you’re back in town. Ol’ Neckrow wants the whole crew on standby.”

That was unusual. “Think something big is coming?” Chara asked.

“No clue. I don’t ask. If he wants me to sit on my ass for a bit, I’m more than happy to oblige.” Mew Mew reclined in her seat, kicking her legs along the booth.

Chara nodded. Typical Mew Mew. “Did I miss anything else while I was gone?”

“Not really.” Mew Mew finished her glass. “Life’s been pretty dull without you. Sure, I’ve made some mischief here and there, but it all felt kind of hollow. Wasn’t sure what it was exactly.”

“I see,” Chara muttered sullenly.

“Hey, Marvin! Can we get two more over here?!” The bartender signalled back to Mew Mew. She returned her attention to Chara. “So, anything fun happen while you were on vacation? Sure, everything went belly-up, but there’s got to be something you were doing over the last few weeks.”

As they received their second round, Chara spun the few stories that she had to offer. Mew laughed at a few. It felt good to joke and curse as crassly as Chara wished. Kris’s family were a bunch of faithful prudes, and his mother owned a glare that could whip proper manners into the devil.

They staggered home from the bar hours later. Arm around each other’s shoulders, Chara and Mew Mew cackled loud enough for their voices to echo through the empty streets. Chara couldn’t remember the last time she felt this great.

“I’ll say it again, Char,” Mew slurred. “It’s really awesome having you back.”

“I know right? I’ve missed the hell out of this place.”

“Who needs Hometown when you’ve got the backstreets of Ebott City to call home?”

“Nobody! That’s who!”

“Scream it, girlfriend!” Mew Mew laughed. They soon reached the corner near their building. “But shit… seriously, Chara. I’ve really missed you. It hasn’t been the same at all since you left.”

Chara sighed. “I missed you too, Mew. I’m sorry I went off without telling you first. That was a dick move.”

“Hey, don’t worry. Just… give me a head’s up next time, okay?”

“Sure.” It didn’t feel like enough to simply leave the matter there. “I really do feel shit about the whole thing, you know. I mean, you’re my best friend, Mew. I don’t know where I’d be without you.”

“You could have found another way through life and gotten something better,” Mew Mew shrugged. “You’re a human. You’ve got that advantage, at least.”

Chara scoffed. “To hell with humans. All the ones I’ve met are scum and I’m disgusted to share the same gene pool with them. I wish I was born a monster like you.”

Mew Mew rolled her eyes and snorted. “You sure about that? Immortality is boring as hell if you don’t have someone to share it with. Then if you do and have a kid, it’s gone in a snap. You grow old and you die, even if you’re a ghost. Makes you wonder what the point of it all is.”

“Who’d want to live forever in a world like this?” Chara countered.

A soft smile brightened Mew Mew’s face. “It’s not so bad, so long as there’s someone like you in it.”

Something then sobered Chara in an instant. Her heart stopped as she felt Mew Mew’s lips press against hers. Mew opened her eyes with a jolt and leaped away from Chara. They stared at one another in abject horror.

“Ah! Sorry about that!” Mew yelped. Her face reddened like a tomato. Swallowing sharply, she made an awkward smile as her hand scratched behind her head. “You know me. Mew Mew Kissy Cutie likes to kiss everything and everyone. Sometimes this body just has a mind of its own, you know. Haha…”

She flinched as Chara stepped forward and kissed her. Chara chose not to think. She found something that she didn’t realise she wanted and simply acted. Mew Mew then relaxed. She placed her hands onto Chara’s shoulders and pulled her closer. Chara’s tongue glided over Mew Mew’s smooth, plastic one. It tasted strongly of booze. She didn’t care.

All the problems in her life melted away under Mew Mew’s soft touch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there it is. The ship that nobody was asking for. I've got to classify this pairing as both 'F/F' and 'Other' because to hell if I know where Mew Mew lands on the spectrum. Happy to take on any expertise.


	15. Unread Messages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asgore arrives in Ebott City to convince Chara to come back. Meanwhile, Chara and Mew Mew talk about the previous night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the week where I learned the term rarepair.

The clock on Chara’s phone rolled late into the morning, yet she did not rise from the bed. Mew Mew curled against her within the cramped space available to them. Both still wore the clothes that they been in last night, shoes included. They simply crashed after walking inside.

Chara remembered part of what went down on the sidewalk. It certainly threw her into a loop. She and Mew Mew had known each other for a long time, though neither of them had ever shown any signs of… whatever that was… before. Somewhere she had heard that absence made the heart grow fonder. Maybe that was the reason why Chara stared at Mew Mew’s dozing face on her shoulder and wished that the moment would last for ages.

Her phone buzzed again. A bubble of text stretched across the screen. Chara averted her gaze until it faded away. Although she had set the device to ‘Do Not Disturb,’ it didn’t save her from the messages that flooded her MyShare inbox. The number three burned over the little envelope at the top of the window; three ever-growing strings of unread messages from the last people whom she wanted to hear from right now.

At this time of the day, the messages were coming in faster. They just couldn’t take a hint, Chara huffed. In the end, she logged off and tossed the phone to the floor. She had to get up to use the bathroom anyway. Another pity that she wasn’t a monster; a black hole to food and liquor offering no escape until her demise released everything in a big bang of nutrient-rich dust.

Chara’s stomach became the next organ to demand her attention. All she found in the pantry was Mew Mew’s favourite cereal, a chocolate atrocity with too much sugar for even Chara to swallow most mornings. But she was desperate, so it would have to do. Chara poured milk over a bowl. It came out in thick, putrid lumps.

“Argh! Mew!” she shouted. Chara stormed into the bedroom and held the bottled biohazard in the air. “Why the bloody hell do you have this in the fridge?!”

Mew Mew lifted her head, rubbing the sleep from her eye. “For cereal… And coffee…”

“This stuff expired two weeks ago!”

“It tastes better that way.”

Chara caught another whiff and almost vomited. “I can’t believe this shit hasn’t killed you.” She hurried back into the kitchen and screwed the lid on. The apartment now reeked, though. Chara threw a window open. Then she disposed of her sullied breakfast.

“To hell with this. I’m grabbing an egg roll from the diner. You want anything, Mew, or are you happy with your curdled death?”

“You don’t have to be rude about it,” Mew Mew complained as she walked into the room. “Pick up a latte if you don’t mind. I’m going to finish this off.” She snagged the leftover milk bottle.

“Just keep the bloody window open. And blast some air freshener when you’re done.”

Chara looked down upon the street. A dingy pickup truck rolled to a stop outside the apartment building. It looked familiar. ‘ _Is that…?_ ’ From the driver’s seat, Asgore stepped out. “What the hell is he doing here?”

“Who?” Mew Mew asked. Chara walked past her without giving an answer. She hurried down the staircase and through the front door. By then, three other monsters had already gathered around Asgore.

“Well, Mr Asgore,” the mushroom-shaped goon among them sneered, “we don’t often get visitors in our humble, little neighbourhood. How would you like for us to make your time here more memorable?”

“Oh, that’s quite kind of you,” Asgore replied, growing uncomfortable with the thugs crowding in on him. “But if you don’t mind, I just need to…”

“Hey! Agarick!” Chara snapped. The mushroom and his cronies turned towards her. “Get the hell out of here!”

“Mind your own business, Chara.” Agarick shook a fist in her direction.

“I make it my business when you three bums try to shake up my brother’s old man! Now piss off!”

“Hey, Chara!” Mew Mew called from the window. “Ya need me to smack their heads together for ya?”

Agarick’s bunch began to sweat. They might have thought they could take Chara on all at once, though having Mad Mew Mew involved as well seemed more than they could stomach. Agarick clicked his tongue irritably. “Forget it,” he grunted. “Let’s go, boys.”

“Yeah, that’s right! Go spread your spores in a dark corner, Cap Head!” Mew taunted. “Hey, Chara! You mind picking up some more milk on your way back? ‘Kay, thanks!” She pulled her head inside before Chara could answer.

Sighing, Chara turned to Asgore. “You okay?”

“No worse for wear,” he tried to laugh. “Golly, that wasn’t the warm welcome I was expecting. Um… Thank you, Chara.”

“You really shouldn’t have come out this way,” she grumbled. “Why are you here, Asgore?”

His expression became serious. “I’m here because I’m worried about you.”

Chara couldn’t believe it. Did he really drive over a hundred miles just because he was worried about her? She gestured to herself. “Well, I’m here and I’m fine. So, there’s nothing you need to worry about.”

“Are you sure? Kris and Frisk have tried calling you all night. Have you spoken with either of them since you left?”

Chara suppressed as much irritation from her sigh as she could. “No, and I don’t plan to. I really don’t want to talk to them right now. And please don’t take this the wrong way, Asgore, but I especially don’t want to talk to you, either.”

She walked away, hoping that would be the end of this conversation. Too bad for her, Asgore followed. “Chara, please. Don’t be like this. Frisk explained what happened to me. It’s okay. Families fight sometimes. That doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world when they do.”

“What am I supposed to do, Asgore?” Chara spread her arms towards the dirty street around them. Cracked windows and graffitied walls surrounded them as far as the eye could see. “This is what I’ve grown up like. All the crap you can see around you right now is what I’m like inside. What the hell would either Frisk or Kris want someone like me around for?”

“Because they love you,” Asgore answered.

“Really? After the horrid things I’ve said and done? If any of you were smart, you’d realise I’m no good to have around. All I do in life is lie, and hurt people, and steal. I’d just end up bringing the rest of you down with me.”

“That’s not true!” Chara had never seen Asgore cross before. The intensity with which he spoke enflamed his great size. It stunned Chara like a lightning bolt and faded from Asgore just as swiftly. “Chara… I understand that you have done things that you might not be proud of. And I understand you might feel that you never had a choice in your actions. But I also know that there are good things in your heart. You’re strong. You’re resilient. And best of all, you care about your siblings.”

Asgore touched Chara’s shoulder. It vanished inside his palm. “And your brother and sister care about you just as much. They miss you. They want you to come back. We all do.”

“Asgore… I… I can’t.”

“It might seem like things between you can’t be fixed. But please don’t run away like this. You and your siblings finally have the chance to have a future together. Don’t throw it away when there’s still time to make things right. All you have to do is come back to Hometown with me. Then we can all sit down and talk things out together.”

She held them in, but Chara struggled to keep the tears from her face. “I’m sorry, Asgore. I can’t do this. I just can’t…”

He released her. Asgore sighed softly. “It’s alright, Chara. I’ll be staying in town for a little while in case you change your mind. You can call me if you need me.”

Chara turned and walked away as he returned to his truck. She heard Asgore start the engine and a sob tore from her throat. The truck’s old axes screeched as he pulled out onto the road. Chara watched him pass.

She couldn’t do it. She wanted to, but she couldn’t. Asgore might know about what went down, but he couldn’t understand how thoroughly she smashed her relationship with Frisk apart. There was no way to put the pieces back together. If she tried, Chara felt that they would cut her to ribbons. The pain was too much to bear, so she chose to run from it. Running was all that she could ever do. It was all that she was good at.

Chara stewed as she chewed listlessly on an undercooked egg roll. The cup of long black alongside it was so gritty it almost made her feel better. She deserved crap coffee. Chara barely remembered to pick up Mew Mew’s milk and latte on her way back to the apartment.

“Took you long enough,” Mew Mew whined when she walked in. The house didn’t smell much better than how Chara left it. Lavender spray mixed in with the spoilt dairy odour. At least the morning breeze took the edge out of it. “Yo, Char…? You feeling okay? You look rough.”

“I’m fine. Just hungover.”

“What did that guy outside want from you? I heard you say he’s your brother’s dad?”

“Yeah, the current one,” Chara dropped onto the couch. She sank into its saggy, moth-eaten cushions. “Just came by to give back some stuff I left at his place.”

“He drove all the way from Hometown just for that?” Mew Mew whistled. “Dang. Some guy. Didn’t stick around long?”

“He tried convincing me into going back and talking to my siblings again. I don’t want to deal with that shit right now, though.”

“Ah, well. Good thing he didn’t stick around too long, then. You need me to keep an eye out for him in case he comes back?”

“Nah. Asgore’s cool. He’s just sticking his nose in my business, is all. He’ll go home soon enough.” Chara stared off towards the ceiling. “Do you think I’m a coward for walking out like I did?”

“You had the cops breathing down your neck, so I don’t blame you,” Mew Mew said. She sat down next to Chara, tucking her legs underneath. “Besides, I’m glad that you came back.”

“I’m just wondering if I made things worse. Like, Kris had nothing to do with the fight I had with Frisk, and I just ditched him without saying anything. What the hell does he think about all this?”

Mew Mew rested her chin on a fist. A soft frown covered her face. “Do you want to call him and find out?”

Chara considered it for 30 seconds before throwing her head back. “I don’t know.”

“Then just sit on it for a bit and cool your jets. It’s not like he’s going anywhere, right?” Mew Mew shrugged. “And if you still don’t want to talk to him after that, then that’s your answer.”

“Careful with the wise words, Mew. You’re showing your age.”

“You didn’t give a shit about my age last night! I remember you cramming your tongue down my throat.” Mew Mew huffed, blushing as her ears folded. She pulled her legs close to her chest. “Hey… So… about that? Should we… talk about it?”

Chara burned red. “Talk like it never happened… or that you want to again?”

“Well… Which would you rather?”

“God damn it, Mew. Just spit it out. You’re the one that started it.”

“Argh! Fine.” Mew Mew’s tail twitched. “Look… I missed the hell out of you while you gone. I couldn’t believe that I actually got so pissed off that you up and left suddenly. It’s not like others in the gang haven’t done the same. It’s just that having you… not here… really sucked. But now things feel like they can finally go back to normal. At least… I’d like for ‘this’ to be normal.”

“Is this your roundabout way of saying you’ve got the hots for me?”

“Hey, it’s not like I’ve wanted to suck face since we met or anything creepy like that!” Mew Mew growled. “This was something… super recent that happened. It’s more like I really like having you around, and last night made me realise why. Does that make sense or is it still weird?”

Chara brought her own knees to her chin. “I guess it does make sense. While I was away, I kept thinking about you a lot. We could have had a blast in Hometown if you had come along. And… I kind of liked what happened last night more than I thought I would’ve.”

“So… you want to do it again?”

Chara blushed. “Right now?”

Mew Mew nodded. Her face turned as pink as her hair. Swallowing hard, Chara shuffled closer to Mew. She leaned over the girl until their faces were almost touching. Chara stared into Mew Mew’s eyes. This was way more intense than anything she had ever done before; and that was saying a lot.

“You did wash your mouth out after using that rancid milk, right?” Chara asked.

“Well, yeah,” Mew Mew scowled. “Just because my mouth is made of plastic, doesn’t mean I don’t brush after meals.”

“Just checking.”

Taking a deep breath, Chara plunged through the final threshold. Her lips met Mew Mew’s, moulding against them. This was unusual. Chara never thought about kissing another girl in her life, least of all Mew Mew. Yet, here she was. So far, she liked it. Mew Mew purred into her mouth, pressing back while her hands cupped Chara’s face. When they parted, Chara felt like an electric current had run through her body.

“So, that was… cool,” she murmured.

“You think so?” Mew’s ears perked.

“Yeah… Have you ever kissed anyone before?”

Mew Mew’s eyes darted. “Um… Not really?”

“Seriously? Over a century and not even once?”

“Hey! I didn’t care about that stuff before I found this body!”

“Jeez, relax. It’s cool. It must be a record or something, though.” Chara then smirked. “So, do you want to try and break it, or do you wanna keep going?”

“Just shut your smug mouth and get over here already.”


	16. Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unwilling to stand by while Kris suffers, Susie takes matters into her own hands. Meanwhile, Chara is met with a terrible choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the part where I say that this is work of fiction and any similarities with real world people, locations, or groups are entirely incidental.

Susie reclined across the sofa at home. Her head rested atop of Kris’s as he nestled between her arms and legs. His scent filled her nose; sweet from the apple shampoo he uses, underlaid with the saltiness of his human odour. Susie soaked up the warmth that Kris exuded. If the current circumstances had been better, this would have been a perfect moment between them.

Kris only had eyes on his phone. “Calling Chara” displayed on its screen. The phone rang for 15 seconds before cutting out on its own. Kris lowered it and gave a dejected sigh.

“Still no luck,” Susie remarked softly. She tightened her embrace. “Hey… It’ll be okay.”

“Why won’t she answer?” Kris asked. “It’s been nearly a week. I don’t understand why this is happening.”

“Chara will come around,” Susie reassured. “She can’t just ignore you forever, not after what it took for you guys to find each other again.”

“But why won’t she talk to me? I get why Chara doesn’t want to talk to Frisk, but why me too? Did I do something?”

“That’s bull crap, Kris. Nothing bad ever happened between you before all this. Hell, the two of you bonded more than either of you did with Frisk. There’s no way that she doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“Then why, though?!”

Susie sighed. “Because maybe she can’t right now. I’m no shrink, but with what went down between her and Frisk, it might be that Chara wants to be left alone. That’s how I felt when life turned to shit for me.”

“Then why can’t she just say that?” Kris hissed. His back was to her, but Susie could feel him choke back tears. “All she has to do is send a stupid message. At least then I’d know what she was thinking.”

Susie kissed his head. She stroked his hair, feeling his fine strands glide between her fingers. It was the best she could do in that moment. Susie hated feeling unable to help him. They went through thick and thin for each other down in the Dark World. But here, she was useless.

It wasn’t just Kris, either. Frisk had been a mess since the fight. Her eyes were always red and distant whenever they saw each other. Merely mentioning Chara became almost enough for her to start crying again. Susie looked to Asriel one time and saw her own feelings reflected in him. He was just as lost. Asgore called home every night since he went to Ebott. He was never able to provide news about Chara other than that first morning.

She comforted Kris for another 10 minutes until he pulled out from her hold. “You okay?” Susie asked.

“Just gotta use the bathroom.”

“Take your time. That toilet probably loves you for it.” Susie never saw the sense in installing one in a monster house before Kris became a frequent visitor. Building regulations put more thought into these kinds of things than she ever did.

After Kris exited the room, Susie discovered that he had left his phone behind. Acting quickly, she picked it up and entered the PIN code she remembered from watching over Kris’s shoulder. Susie opened the call log and took the most recent number. Normally, she didn’t do this sort of thing, but Susie felt like she had a damned good reason.

By the time Kris returned, his phone was back in its original place and Susie’s shoved into her pocket. Kris crawled into her arms again. This time, he rested on his side against her. His arms held her waist as Susie stretched out so they could lay comfortably together. She brushed the bangs from his face and kissed Kris’s brow.

Although she couldn’t take his pain away from him, Susie was tired of being useless. Asgore had the right idea. If Chara didn’t want to talk to her siblings, then someone else needed to step up. She didn’t know exactly what she would do yet, but, one way or another, Susie was going to try her damned best to fix this mess.

* * *

Ebott City College was quiet during the summer months. Still, there were enough students taking vocational courses, trying to get ahead, or catch up on their degrees to keep the institute open. Chara was not there for any of those reasons. Her task was to check in on a guy who worked in ECC’s tech department. He was falling behind on his gambling debt and needed a reminder that he still owed the Spectres a lot of money.

The weaselly human was a good sport about the whole encounter. He generously gave Chara all the cash he had in his wallet without any trouble, shaking in a cold sweat as he promised he’d deliver more in a couple of days. All that Chara did was flash him the gang’s crest tattooed under her sleeve. She never needed to take out the knife concealed in her back pocket.

On her way to the train station, Chara cut through the campus. The path ahead was empty as far as she could see. Her eye caught the sight of a single café. It was the one at which Chara finally reunited with Kris… as well as Frisk before then…

_Chara walked into the café, having wrapped up another job on behalf of the gang. The place was packed with humans and monsters her age. No one would pick her out from the crowd. Voices from a dozen conversations mingled together into an indecipherable babble._

_She stared at the queue broodingly. Six people stood in front and it took 10 minutes just to reach the register. The wait for her order was twice as long. As soon as Chara received her coffee, she headed straight for the door. Another girl nearly slammed into her._

_“Hey! Watch it!” Chara snapped._

_“Oh! Sorry! I…” The girl stopped, suddenly staring at Chara weirdly. “Charlotte…?”_

_Chara realised that the girl’s golden face and earthen hair were familiar. If she knew her birthname, that had to mean…_

_“Franny…?” Chara’s voice shook in a whisper._

_Tears welled in Francine’s eyes. Her hands covered her hitching breath for a moment. Then, abruptly, she launched onto Chara. “Charlotte!” she cried._

_Francine tackled Chara so hard that her coffee spilled through the lid, barely missing a bird monster who squawked shrilly. Baffled beyond believe, Chara’s arm found its own way around Francine, holding her sister tightly. How long had it been since she had last seen her? Ten years? Somewhere like that._

_“Hey!” the bird yelled, jumping to his feet. “Watch where you’re…!”_

_Chara cut him off with a murderous glare over Francine’s shoulder. The monster choked on his complaints and swallowed them before slowly returning to his seat, looking far away from them._

_“I’m sorry!” Francine wailed. “I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry, Charlotte!”_

_Why was she apologising? Chara waded through foggy memories. It was back at the orphanage, long after Kris had been stolen from them. Then another couple arrived and took Chara home, leaving Francine behind. No… That wasn’t right. They didn’t leave Francine. Chara did. They had fought with each other and Chara stormed out with the next family that took an interest in her. She never tried to get those people to take her sister too. Francine begged her not to go. Chara didn’t listen. That became the last they had seen one another until now._

_Chara saw her vision swimming. What was it that they had fought about? It was so long ago. Tried as she might, Chara couldn’t remember at all. It must have been something stupid if she had forgotten the whole, damned thing. What the hell was wrong with her?_

_“I’m sorry!” Francine continued to cry. Chara’s jacket soaked through to her shoulder. Tears burned her eyes as she held her sister tighter._

_“It’s okay,” Chara sobbed. “I’m here, Franny… I’m here….”_

_It seemed like an age passed before either of them calmed down. Chara sat down with Francine and they caught up for the last 11 years. They had both taken new names. Chara tried to reinvent herself after joining the Spectres. Meanwhile, Frisk had grown dissatisfied with her birthname, yet she struggled to let go of the only thing she had left given to her by their late parents. Only the friends she had made at the college knew Frisk by her new identity. The pair of them were fire and ice, Chara realised. However, this one thing they shared helped to span the divide that had broken between them._

_They simply hoped that Kris hadn’t followed that trend. When Frisk suggested they start looking for him, Chara didn’t dare ask what their chances were. She had no idea where to start. That didn’t stop Frisk, though. She became determined. And somehow, Chara began to believe that they might be able to find their baby brother._

Chara wiped her eyes dry as she continued to stare at the ‘closed’ sign over the café’s door. Her thoughts cycled back to Frisk crying in her arms, apologising for an argument after Chara abandoned her; an argument that she could not even remember. Did she ever apologise to Frisk for that? No, she hadn’t. Chara tore away from the building as a black mire welled within her chest.

Her phone started ringing. Chara checked the screen and did not recognise the number. She thought about declining the call. It might just be Frisk or Kris using a different phone, or perhaps someone who merely had the wrong number. On the other hand, it could also be someone from the gang trying to reach her. To hell with it, she decided.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Hey, Chara. It’s Susie.”

That, she hadn’t expected. “Did Kris ask you to call me?”

A dry laugh carried from the other end. “He doesn’t even know I swiped your number from his phone.”

“Then what do you want?”

“To tell you to get your ass back here!” Susie snapped. “Look, Kris and Frisk really want to talk to you. They’re a real mess. Could you please just call them and let them know you’re okay?”

“Sure,” Chara muttered. “Will do.”

“I can tell you’re lying.” Smart girl, but not smart enough to mind her own business. “I’m being serious, Chara. You really need to talk to them. I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but it’s not helping.”

“What am I supposed to say? That I’m sorry I’m a lowlife who runs with a street gang because I’ve got nothing else? That I’m sorry I break laws all the time because I don’t have a choice? Is that what you want?”

“You can apologise for having your head shoved up your ass and ditching them without saying goodbye! I don’t give a shit about that other stuff you just said,” Susie exclaimed. “Look, I get that you think Kris and Frisk care about all the criminal stuff you’ve done, but they don’t. They just want to be a family with you again. Just come back to Hometown and talk with them. Things will get better that way, believe me.”

“Really,” Chara scoffed. “You know that much for certain?”

“I do because I know Kris!” Susie fell silent. Chara heard her sigh. “I used to be in the same position you’re in right now. I never broke the law or anything like that, but I was the mean girl at school who drove everyone away because I was embarrassed of myself. I bullied people from class, including Kris. Especially Kris.”

Chara didn’t answer, so Susie kept talking. “When I finally met someone who accepted me for who I was, I didn’t want to be alone anymore. I wanted to have friends and be myself for once. Kris helped me do that. He forgave me for all the shit I put him through and gave me the chance to make things right. I spent months owning up for everything else I’ve done and now I’m friends with everyone at school.”

Susie sighed again. “What I’m trying to say, Chara, is you don’t have to worry about what Kris and Frisk think about you. They still love you. And if you give them a chance, I’m sure they can help you become a better version of yourself; someone you can be proud of.”

A silence hung between them. “Anyway,” Susie finished. “That’s all I wanted to say. Just give Kris a call soon. It’ll stop him from freaking out. And if you don’t, I’ll come down there and wrangle you back here if I have to. Got it?”

In spite of herself, Chara chuckled. “Yeah, got it. Okay, fine. I’ll… text Kris later.”

Susie hung up soon after. Chara sighed and asked what she had gotten herself into. What happened that night was between her and Frisk. She never meant to hurt Kris in any way. Now the guilt rose in greater waves. Chara continued to think about what Susie had said throughout her journey home.

Maybe she should at least apologise to Frisk about the fight, as well as for leaving her when they were kids. Chara had no idea what Frisk would say, and fear of that shook her to the core. She almost dismissed the idea entirely. The remorse tethered her to it, though. Start off with the phone call, Chara compromised. See where that took her. What did she stand to lose that she hadn’t already thrown out the window?

When Chara reached their apartment, Mew Mew was frantic in the kitchen. “Oh, thank God! You’re finally back,” she told Chara. “I was about to call you.”

“What’s got you by the tail?”

“Neckrow’s sending guys around. They stopped by and dropped these over.”

Chara looked into the cheap duffel bag laid out on the counter. “Holy shit! Are those guns?!”

“Well, they’re certainly not girl scout cookies,” Mew huffed. “Jerzee gave me the details before he took off. We’re hitting the Chupacabras tonight.”

“Seriously?!” The Chupacabra motorcycle gang were the only other crew in Ebott City comprised primarily of monsters. They were three times the size of the Spectres and owned four times the territory. The two groups were rivals, but, aside from a few scuffles, the Spectres knew better than to pick any serious fights. “What the hell is Neckrow thinking starting a war with the Chupacabras?”

“Birdbrain’s got it all planned out, apparently,” Mew Mew replied. “He’s found one of their main kitchens. If we hit the Chups hard and fast, we can then nab their equipment and make our own setup.”

Chara made a double-take. “Wait, now we’re talking drugs?” The Spectres didn’t deal in that stuff, mainly so that they didn’t piss the Chupacabras off. “What else is he trying at?”

“If we cut off the Chups’ supply and get into the market ourselves, we could probably grab hold of the south bank,” Mew explained.

Stealing the Chupacabras’ turf as well? That damned buzzard they called their boss was getting overly ambitious. “Jeez, Mew. This is risky as hell.” Chara ran her hands through her hair.

“Tell me about it. I thought Jerzee was pulling my leg at first when he told me. Don’t touch those with your hands!” Mew Mew caught Chara before she reached into the bag. “Boss doesn’t want fingerprints in case the cops get involved. Here…”

She handed Chara a set of gloves that matched the ones Mew Mew wore. Chara slipped them on and picked up a black pistol. It was unloaded… and heavier than it looked. She had never held a gun before. Already, she envisioned firing it at some indiscriminate target. If they were all going in packing heat, then it was likely because the Chupacabras were armed as well. They’d shoot any Spectre down to protect their business.

The gun rattled in Chara’s hand. Her heart pounded inside her ribs and ears. If the Spectres went up against another gang with a weapon like this, they weren’t going in to intimidate. Both sides would be out to kill. Chara had pushed people around plenty of times; and put a couple in hospital when they certainly deserved it; but she had never killed anyone in her life. That was a line she hadn’t yet crossed. It was a line that she didn’t want to cross. It was a line that Spectre boss Neckrow Moore was now telling her to cross.

“Chara?” Mew Mew asked, anxious. “You okay?”

What the hell was she supposed to do with this thing? Chara heard nothing but the sirens in her own skull. If she went through with this and got caught by the police… If she went through this and got herself killed… If she went through this at all… What would her family think then? Frisk had lost her mind over just the thefts and beatings. If Chara went into a gunfight, even if she never fired a shot, Frisk and Kris would never want anything to do with her ever again!

Yet, if Neckrow was calling in the whole gang for this venture and she bailed on them when they needed her most, Chara might as well be dead to the Spectres. If she didn’t have them, then she wouldn’t have… Chara stared into Mew Mew’s eyes. Her trembling grew worse.

“Babe…?” Mew gulped, now deeply worried. “What’s wrong?” Chara had her own question that was freaking her out.

What the fuck was she going to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made an effort to restrict myself to one F-bomb throughout this story, and here it is.


	17. Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara has made her decision. Now she must live with the consequences.

_“This just in; at 9:48 PM this evening, police received reports of multiple gunshots near the south bank of the Copper Grove district. Officers arrived at the scene as members of the Chupacabra and Spectre gangs were locked in a shootout on an open road. The violence has been disrupted, with multiple arrests and a search underway for those who fled the scene. The Ebott City Police Department is warning all residents and business owners in the area to stay inside and report any suspicious activity.”_

Chara pressed her head against the cold glass as the radio then blasted another song as though the announcement never happened. A wretched illness tainted her soul. She wanted it to kill her quickly, yet it saw fit to let her suffer. It made her see the faces of the people she had just let down, who would never forgive her in a thousand years. Tears ran down her cheek. She made no effort to wipe them away.

“Everything okay, Chara?” Asgore asked gently. His eyes focused on the dark road ahead, though he stole an occasional glance at her in the passenger seat of his truck.

“I’m fine,” she answered in a cracked voice that betrayed her lie.

“If you want to talk, I’ll listen.”

Chara did not want to. Her thoughts played back to that moment at the apartment; that last moment that she spoke to Mew Mew.

_“I can’t do this,” she shuddered._

_“What?” Mew reacted. “Char, I know this is bloody dangerous, but Neckrow’s serious about it! He needs the whole crew together in case the Chups call in reinforcements! If we don’t do what he says, it’ll be our asses on the line anyway!”_

_Chara shook her head. She backed away from Mew Mew. “I can’t... I can’t! What would Frisk and Kris think if I did this?”_

_“What about them? They don’t need to find out! We just go in, take what we’re after and get out before trouble arrives. It’s simple.”_

_“And what if this whole thing goes wrong?!” Chara demanded. “What if I kill someone and get caught; or I get killed and never see my brother and sister again?! They’d think I’m nothing but a murderer then…”_

_Mew Mew closed the gap between them and held Chara’s hands. “Hey… Hey… I get what you’re saying. I know you’re thinking about your siblings, but you really need to be more concerned about yourself right now. If the gang goes up against the Chupacabras and we don’t show up, Neckrow’s going to be pissed as hell with us. We might as well join the Chups and paint big, red targets onto our backs.”_

_Chara knew this already. She hated this whole situation. Damn that short-fused ghost turkey! “Only if I stay…” she murmured._

_“Come again?”_

_“If I stay, they’d just beat the shit out of me and toss me out of the gang anyway.” Chara pulled out her phone and searched for Asgore’s number. Mew Mew grabbed her wrist to stop her._

_“You’re seriously going to up and leave?” she exclaimed. “Again?!”_

_Chara almost cried. “I have to, Mew. I can’t do this thing and expect to ever have a life with my family again!”_

_“What about the family we have here? What about me?!” Mew Mew pleaded._

_“Then come with me.” If they both left, they’d still have each other. That was all either of them had before they joined the Spectres. It could be that way again but better in Hometown._

_Alas, Mew Mew backed away. Her eyes were wide with anguish as she slowly shook her head. “Chara… please don’t do this. I know it’s not the most glamourous life out there, but we built what we have together. I can’t just throw it all away. I lost everything I loved once already! I don’t want to go through that again!”_

_“You won’t lose everything!” Chara reached for Mew Mew and brought their foreheads into contact. “You’d still have me. And I’d still have you. That’s all I’d want to keep from this life. So, please… Come with me.”_

_But Mew Mew broke away once more. Tears ran down her face as she fed the distance between them. “I’m sorry, Chara. I really am. But I don’t know if I can do this… I’m sorry.”_

_With a heavy heart, Chara watched Mew Mew retreat to her bedroom. “Well, I’m leaving,” she declared. “If you want to stay or not, that’s your choice. But I can’t wait around, Mew. There’s too much on the line for me if I don’t go now.”_

_All Mew Mew did was nod slowly. Chara could not see her expression. Then, Mew Mew closed the door behind her. Chara called Asgore and hurried to gather what effects she didn’t want to leave behind._

“Am I a bad person?” Chara asked aloud.

“What’s that?” Asgore started. “No, I wouldn’t say you’re a bad person. Not at all.”

“But I ran away,” Chara whimpered. “I ran away from you. I ran away from my family. I ran away from my friends. And I ran away from Mew Mew. All I do is just run away when things get hard.”

“I see…” Asgore concentrated on navigating a winding stretch of the road. “Perhaps it wasn’t the best decision you could have made sometimes. But I do believe it was the right one in this case. You chose to return home to your brother and sister instead of doing something that you knew you would regret. I think that makes you a good person, Chara.”

She appreciated the kind words but still did not believe them. Chara stewed in silence until the lights of Hometown passed her window. It was quiet on the streets. Everyone was likely at home, watching TV or getting ready for bed. Chara doubted any of them realised that two gangs of monsters had tried to shoot each other into swiss cheese in the big city.

If Asgore hadn’t been at the wheel, Chara didn’t think she could have made it to Kris’s driveway. The engine cut off. Chara felt frozen in her seat. Asgore’s hand touched hers atop her knee. She looked up to his gentle smile. “Shall we go?”

Each step felt like a feat of its own. Chara unbuckled her seatbelt. She opened the truck door. It slammed behind her. One foot forward. Then the next. Asgore walked by her side slowly until they reached the door. Chara hoped that he would knock, but he gestured for her to do it instead. Her throat was dry as the muscles in her arm seized together.

Chara raised her fist to the door. She tapped once. It barely made a sound. She knocked a little harder. Then Chara stood back and waited with her heart bouncing around her chest. The door clicked, unlocked, and opened slowly. Light washed over Toriel.

Her hand rose to her mouth. “Chara,” she breathed in, what surprised Chara, relief.

Before Chara could respond, Frisk appeared behind Toriel. She shoved past her and threw her arms around Chara. Her grip crushed Chara’s ribs. “Chara!” Frisk cried. “You came back!”

“I’m sorry!” The painful sob tore from Chara. She hugged her sister back as tightly as she could. They cried together. “I’m sorry I said those horrid things! I’m sorry that I left! God… I’m so sorry!”

“I don’t care about all that stuff you did,” Frisk hiccupped. “I’m just so glad you came back.”

Chara looked up and saw Kris standing in the doorway. Tears fell down his cheek as he ran up and hugged Chara and Frisk both at once. Chara pulled an arm around him, pressing her forehead against his crown.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered to him. Kris squeezed her momentarily.

“When we heard the news from Ebott, we thought…” Frisk struggled with her tears. “Thank God you weren’t involved.”

“It’s okay,” Chara hushed her. “I’m done with the gang. I’m never going back.”

Even though Asgore called before the shootout started, that ‘what if’ scenario hurt her siblings more than Chara could stand. Thank God for smacking the good sense into her at the right moment. She held Frisk and Kris until they all cried themselves dry. Toriel approached them slowly.

“Let’s all get out of the cold, shall we?” she said gently. Chara nodded and followed her siblings inside. She passed by Asriel and stopped as he smiled.

“Welcome home,” he said.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, managing a small smile in return. “Glad to be home.”

With the children gone, Asgore turned towards his truck. “Asgore, wait.” He looked back in surprise at Toriel.

“Thank you,” she said, “for bringing Chara home.”

Asgore gave a soft smile. “It was no trouble. I’ll… leave you to it.”

“Please wait.” Asgore stopped mid-step again. “I… I mean it, Asgore. Thank you. This means a great deal to us.”

Asgore looked at Toriel for a brief time. She smiled at him, like she had not in many years. “Thank you, Tori.” Astonishingly, she did not scowl at his slip of the tabooed nickname. He cleared his throat. “Toriel… I just want you to know I care very much about our family. I understand that you and I will never have what we once did again, and I will always be sorry for the mistakes I’ve made. But no matter what, I love our children and will do everything in my power to make them happy; even the ones we didn’t raise ourselves. I might not always get it right, but I will always try my best.”

Toriel’s smile remained as she nodded graciously. She glanced behind her into the house. “Would you… like to come inside for a bit? We have leftovers from supper if you haven’t eaten yet.”

Asgore looked away, scratching his nose. “I wouldn’t want to intrude…”

“Asgore… It’s okay.”

He looked into her eyes. Despite all the heartache and harsh words that had been shared between them, Asgore still loved Toriel. He had made peace with the knowledge that their marriage was beyond salvation. However, Asgore still wished they could be some small part of each other’s lives again; and decided that one meal with a dear friend wouldn’t hurt them.

“I’d like that… Thank you, Toriel.”

* * *

It was almost midnight when Chara’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen, believing her tired eyes were playing tricks on her. It was Mew Mew. With a fearful breath caught in her chest, Chara answered.

“Hello?”

_“Hey, Chara… Where are you?”_

Chara pondered if it was safe to tell her. That information in the Spectres’ hands could be dangerous, especially to her family. But another voice reasoned: this was Mew Mew. She had a wild temper at times, sure, but she wasn’t vindictive. She’d never rat her out.

“In Hometown.”

_“Yeah, I gathered that, you moron. I mean where exactly? What address are you crashing at?”_

“Why do you need to know that?” Chara asked. Her nerves drove further on edge.

_“Because I’m at the bloody bus station and I’ve got no clue where I’m supposed to go from here! Where the heck am I going to stay?”_

Chara’s brain reset. “Wait… You’re out here? What about the gang?”

 _“Wasn’t your plan for us to leave town together?”_ Mew Mew groaned loudly. _“Can you just tell me where to find you? It’s freezing out here.”_

Fortunately, Asgore had not yet gone to bed. At Chara’s urgent request, they drove to the bus station. There, on a metallic bench, Mew Mew was curled in a ball next to a large, black duffel bag. She looked up towards the approaching truck.

Chara stepped out of the cabin. It was abnormally cold for a summer night and the wind cut through the jacket over her pyjamas. She rubbed her arms, shivering. Mew Mew stood to meet her. She stared at Chara with hands clasped in front of her skirt and her tail curled behind her.

“Hey…”

“Hey…” Chara replied. “What are you doing out here?”

“Following you, of course!” Mew said hotly. “I thought you’d be happier to see me! That was the last freaking bus running tonight, and I almost missed it! Some appreciation would be nice!”

“What about the gang?!”

“Ditched them.” Mew Mew’s ears flattened. “When you said you couldn’t go through with Neckrow’s plan, I couldn’t go through with it, either. It just took me a little longer to make my mind up, is all. Sorry for making a fuss earlier.”

“So, you didn’t…?”

“Go and shoot up some Chups? Nah. I packed what I could carry and bailed not long after you left. Jerzee pinged me all night until I told him you and I wanted out. He’s probably pulling his antlers out right now if the cops haven’t nabbed him already.”

Chara felt relieved. “I’m sorry I did this to you. You cared more about the gang than I ever did.”

“Don’t worry about it. Look, when it came down to it, the choice was to either stay with the crew… or stay with you.” Mew Mew closed the distance and pulled Chara into a hug. She kissed her cheek. “And I’m choosing you.”

Chara unleashed all her strength as she hugged Mew Mew. She kissed her, crying while Mew stroked her back. There they were, Coldheart Chara and Mad Mew Mew; once two of the toughest women in the Spectres street gang; pashing, hugging, and sobbing in a dark, lonely bus shelter in the remote countryside. Chara could have laughed at the absurdity.

She stared into Mew Mew’s eyes, both smiling tenderly to each other. “So,” Mew started, “do you think your family will mind if I crash with you? Neither of us can show our faces on Spectre turf again, so no chance of going back to the apartment.”

“I’m sure Asgore won’t.”

Still, they wouldn’t know for certain until they asked. Taking Mew Mew’s hand into hers, Chara walked with her back to Asgore’s truck. They rode together in the cargo bed. As she rested her head on Mew Mew’s shoulder, Chara watched the last route to Ebott City shrink into the night. That part of their lives was now over. Tomorrow, she and Mew could work out what came next.


	18. Difficult Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To fix a problem, you sometimes need to have a difficult conversation with someone.

Chara approached Kris’s house in the morning. She knocked on the door and was surprised when Frisk answered. It took one step out of this whole venture, so Chara ran with it. “Hey…”

“Hey,” Frisk replied.

“You… busy or anything?” Chara shuffled her feet.

Frisk stepped back. “No. Come in.”

Inside, Chara looked around the living room. “Anyone else home?”

“Kris is out with Susie right now. Asriel and his mom went grocery shopping together.”

“Oh.”

This back-and-forth of short replies was maddening. Chara didn’t know how to proceed. Frisk glanced towards the kitchen. “Do you… want something to drink?” At least they were both terribly awkward.

“I’m good,” Chara answered. “I… actually wanted to say sorry to you.”

“Chara, you did plenty of that the other night. You don’t need to keep apologising. I’m just glad that you’re back again.”

“I know, but… There’s more that I haven’t apologised for yet.”

Chara sat down onto the sofa. She stared at her fidgeting hands as Frisk took a seat beside her. “Do you remember… back at the orphanage… when I left with that couple?”

Frisk hung her head. “I do.”

“I remember fighting with you… and running off with them after.” Chara swallowed hard. “I’m sorry I did that. First, we lost Kris; and then I up and abandoned you at that place. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

Frisk nodded. “I’m sorry that we fought in the first place.”

“Is it worse that I can’t remember why we fought?”

“Maybe,” Frisk chuckled. “Maybe not. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

Chara felt no better about it. “What were we fighting about?”

Frisk sighed. “It’s been so long… But I remember some of it.” She was silent for a while. Chara could see Frisk physically preparing herself to relive that moment. “It was a couple of months after Kris was adopted. You were still upset that the caretakers gave him away all by himself. We talked about going out to find him a few times. Never actually did anything about it, though.”

“Right…” Pieces were starting to resurface in Chara’s memory.

“But after a while, I stopped believing it was possible,” Frisk curled into herself. “I thought that maybe Kris was happy with his new family, and that we should try to move on with our lives without him. You got angry when I told you how I felt.”

Chara could scarcely believe it. Yet, she heard the screaming again and saw Frisk crying on a bed in the room they shared. “You thought I had given up,” Frisk sniffed. “And I had. Next thing I knew, a family took an interest in you and you went with them. I tried apologising but that didn’t stop you from leaving.”

“I’m really sorry, Frisk.” Chara wiped her sleeve across her eyes.

“It was my fault, though. We made a promise to find Kris and I broke it. I thought he was happy, but you were right. Asriel told me that Kris was abused by his father before he was brought back to the orphanage.” Frisk began weeping. “If I had known that, I wouldn’t have…”

Chara slipped an arm around her. “You couldn’t have known.” She tightened her embrace. “If anything, I’m just as bad for giving up on you. I should have been the one to try and bring us all back together.”

After a few choked breaths, Frisk dried her tears. “I didn’t know what to do after you left. I just went through life trying to forget about it all. But when I bumped into you at the café, it felt like I was being given a second chance. That’s why I started looking for Kris again. I felt like I had to make up for losing faith all those years ago.”

“And you could have saved us all a whole heap of trouble if you just asked your boyfriend if he knew any humans named Kris,” Chara smirked.

Frisk smacked her on the shoulder. “Shut up!” she laughed. “But we finally did it. We brought our family back together. All I really did was set out to do what you started for us.”

“That still doesn’t make leaving you right,” Chara sighed.

“It doesn’t, but… Please don’t worry about it anymore, Chara. Let’s just put it all behind us. Now that you’re here, I want us to stay like this from now on.”

Thinking on it briefly, Chara nodded. “Sounds good to me,” she said. “So… did I miss anything while I was gone?”

“Well, there is one thing.” Frisk twiddled her thumbs. “After you left, I also started thinking about my parents again. Even though we fought, I didn’t want to lose them from my life, either. So, I called my mom. We talked for a while.”

“And?”

“My parents told me that they want to meet Asriel. They want to get to know him and give him a chance.”

“Frisk, that’s huge!”

“I know. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go through with that. But I did think that if I went home to Ebott to see them, I could have maybe gone to see you as well.” Frisk shook her head. “I guess I don’t need to worry about that anymore.”

“No, you don’t. Also… you should probably stay clear of my old neighbourhood from now on. I pissed a few people off when I left the gang,” Chara warned.

“Noted,” Frisk smirked. “So, what are you and your girlfriend going to do now?”

“Asgore’s still letting us crash at his place for the time being. The rent’s pretty good out here, so Mew and I might find somewhere else in town to stay. We need to work out how we’re going to make a living, though.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure things out.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Shuffling around in her seat, Frisk then pulled Chara into her arms. “I love you, Chara.”

Chara almost cried again. She buried her face into her sister’s warm shoulder. “I love you too, Frisk.”

* * *

The morning sun warmed Susie’s scales. She exhaled in contentment as she basked with her eyes closed. A cool, gentle breeze ruffled through her hair. Susie’s chin rested atop Kris’s soft head. His scent filled her nose like a freshly made pie on the windowsill, tempting her for a little taste.

She kissed Kris’s hair, giving in to the urge. He responded with a tender squeeze of her hand. His touch was soft and smooth. Anyone else would never think that his hand once held a sword, facing down cruel kings and malicious knights.

The riverbank was the perfect spot to be alone with someone special. Susie could let the rest of the world drift by with Kris dozing in her arms. He fitted so snuggly within her larger hold. Occasionally, Kris would reach up and scratch Susie behind her jawline. She melted in bliss, angling her neck to expose that sweet spot she craved for him to tend to.

All good things had to end eventually. Kris’s phone chimed, calling him away. “Looks like it’s time to head to work,” he sighed.

“Can you stay a little longer?” Susie complained.

Kris snickered. “You know that if I do, I won’t want to leave, and we’ll stay like this for hours? Then Dad will be wondering where the heck I’ve been?”

“So?”

“So, no.” Susie frowned as Kris crawled out of her arms. He turned to face her and smiled. “But I can’t wait to do this again soon. So, raincheck?”

“Fine,” Susie relented. “But you’re bringing snacks next time to make up for this.”

“Deal.” He then sealed it with a kiss. No matter how many times they’d done that so far, Susie always felt her heart turn to mush. “Later?”

She smiled warmly. “Later.”

Kris helped Susie onto her feet. They made their way back through the park when Susie sniffed something in the wind. It was a scent that she knew well. “Hey,” she lagged, “I think I’ll stick around here for a little longer. Call you after work?”

“Sure,” Kris answered. Although perplexed, he did not say anything further to Susie. She waved as he wandered out of sight.

Susie closed her eyes and inhaled. That scent was still there. She followed the wind towards the trees. It didn’t take long to find someone tucked between the roots of an old trunk. “Hey, Noelle.”

Noelle flinched as she looked up to face Susie. Her eyes widened into perfect, frightened spheres. Susie continued to loom over her until Noelle unfroze and hung her head. “Hey, Susie…”

“Whatcha doing?”

“Nothing.”

“Really? Back here? There’s nicer places to sit if you want to do nothing.”

Noelle pulled her legs tighter into her chest. When she didn’t answer, Susie jabbed a thumb towards the riverbank. “Wanna do nothing over there with me?”

A flash of cheer lit Noelle’s face before it vanished completely. “I don’t know… You looked like you were just leaving.”

“Didn’t have anything better to do,” Susie shrugged. “So…?”

Finally, Noelle gave in. They walked from the shadows towards the river side by side. It was much nicer out in the sunlight. Susie and Noelle sat down together and watched the stream gurgle by.

“Better?” Susie asked.

Noelle smiled to herself and nodded. “Yes… This is better.”

Minutes rolled along with a good amount of nothing getting done. “Are you okay?” Susie asked.

“Oh? Sure, I’m fine.” Noelle said with a start. She gave a nervous laugh.

“It’s not like you to be sitting around by yourself. Something on your mind?”

Susie watched Noelle’s expression waver. “No… It’s nothing.”

“Can I ask you something?” Noelle turned rigid in an instant. Susie knew to be gentle with her. “Are you okay with Kris and me dating?”

“Ah… Sure! Of course, I am!” The smile Noelle wore was too forced for even Susie to believe.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, I…” Noelle faltered. “Well… I guess…” She wilted in a single, drawn-out sigh. “No… I guess I’m not, really.”

“You wanna talk about it?”

Noelle became quiet. Susie then questioned whether she was tackling any of this in the right way. “I guess I was hoping that you and I could get back together,” Noelle admitted. “But now that you and Kris are an item, I…”

“I’m sorry, Noe,” Susie huffed. “I’d have liked things to go back to the way they were for us before. But when I look at how much your life was different from mine; I just can’t do it anymore. It’s too hard for me to watch your family support your dad when I spent so long scared that my mom could die any day. It’s made me feel like my family’s life is a joke.”

Tears started to leak down Noelle’s cheek. “Susie… I’m so sorry that I made you feel that way.”

Susie’s throat constricted. Her breath came out in a shudder. “It’s not your fault. But it doesn’t make it hurt any less. Don’t get me wrong, though. I still care about you. I just can’t be anything more than friends with you, is all.” Susie watched a leaf drift alongside another in the current. They disappeared together.

“With Kris, though, it’s a level playing field. There’s not much for us to compare each other with. Plus, we’ve gone through some stuff together that I’ll never forget; things that I can’t really talk about with you. He and I trusted each other with some really heavy personal things, and we became best friends because of it. Now that we’re dating, it feels different to what you and I had. I’m not saying it’s better or worse, but it just feels right for me. I’m really happy with Kris.”

Noelle dried her eyes. She offered a small, pained smile. “I’m glad for you, then. The two of you did look kind of cute together.”

“So, you _were_ spying on us,” Susie smirked. Noelle blushed and began fidgeting nervously. “Don’t worry about it,” Susie then laughed. “Thanks, though. I just want you to know that no matter what, we’re still friends. That okay with you?”

Susie opened her arm in invitation. Noelle stared at her uncertainly for a long time. In the end, though, she scooted closer to Susie and wrapped her arms around her.

“Sounds okay to me.”


	19. Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three siblings have each found their own way to move forward towards a brighter future.

_Four years later_

Engines roared over the screams of spectators through the television. Chara shovelled a mouthful of popcorn from the bowl upon her lap, feet kicked over the coffee table. A dozen flashy race cars wrestled for the lead. Several fell behind while taking the tightest turn on the course. One came close to spinning out of control, barely avoiding a collision with the vehicle attempting to overtake it.

The front door slammed open. It jarred Chara from her fixation. “Chara!” Mew Mew yelled. “Chara! It’s here!”

Chara scooped spilt popcorn from the sofa and threw it back into the bowl. “What’s here?!”

Mew held an envelope into the air. When she saw the emblem on its corner, Chara’s breath caught. She killed the volume on the TV and took the letter from Mew Mew. Her legal name was printed over the front.

“Well?” Mew Mew danced anxiously on her toes. “Open it.”

“Okay, jeez! Give me a sec!”

Shoving her finger underneath the envelope’s seal, Chara slowly tore it apart. Her throat ran dry as she removed several sheets of paper folded inside. Carefully, she flattened out the top page and began to read.

_‘Dear Charlotte,_

_We thank you for participating in the General Education Development Program. Your final exam results have been assessed and we are pleased to congratulate you for successfully completing your Certificate of High School Equivalency…’_

“I… I passed…” Chara gasped.

“Oh my god!” Mew Mew crushed her with a hug. “Congratulations! I’m so proud of you!” She released Chara just before her vision started to blur from the loss of oxygen.

“Thanks… Mew…” Chara wheezed. She continued reading the rest of the letter. The remaining pages broke down her results for each test. Her overall score wasn’t close to ‘A-grade,’ but she didn’t outright fail any of them. 

“Let me see! Let me see!” Mew Mew snatched the papers from Chara and squealed. If anything, she was the most excited of them. “This is so great, babe! You’ve got to tell Toriel.”

“Okay, I’ll get to it,” Chara chuckled. “No need to rush.”

She did need to tell Toriel as soon as possible, though. If not for her tutoring over the last few years, Chara would have crashed and burned in her attempt to finish her education. The old woman had been so patient and encouraging. Even a ‘C’ was worthy of her praise, even if she nudged Chara to keep improving. Chara ended up wishing that she had a teacher like Toriel a long time ago. Maybe she would have stayed in school if someone like her had been there to believe in Chara.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Mew Mew asked.

Chara drew a blank. “Honestly, I don’t know. Guess I didn’t think I’d get this far.” She chuckled again. “For starters, I could go for some pizza to celebrate.”

Mew Mew flashed a devilish grin. “I hear you. Super-large with stuffed crust. Then we get black-out drunk together.”

“Jeez, Mew. Do you ever show any restraint?”

“Come on!” Mew wailed. “It’s what loads of people do when they finish high school! Live a little, girl!”

Chara sighed but wore a wide smile. “Fine. But _I_ choose the toppings this time. No arguments.”

Pouting, Mew Mew crossed her arms. “Alright. We’ll be boring then.” Her ears folded flat atop her head. Chara coaxed them up again with a gentle scratch between them. Mew Mew then wrapped her arms around Chara and kissed her.

“I’ll say it again, Char. Great job on passing. You really deserve it.”

Chara rested her chin on Mew Mew’s shoulder and hugged her back. “Thanks, babe. That means a lot to me.”

Mew Mew had dropped the letter at some point, scattering the pages across the floor. Chara glanced at one and felt something warm and happy fill her chest. It had taken years of hard work to achieve this much. And now that she had finally finished her high school studies, it started to feel like Chara had a future to look forward to.

* * *

Kris sat on the bed within a small, single-room apartment. Three other guys reclined in various places around him, all staring into laptop screens with headphones over their ears. The other human on the desk chair banged his head back and forth, throwing around his curly copper hair.

“These are some sick tracks, Kris,” he said. A virtual battle displayed on his screen. The characters flickered through idle motions as the player menu remained untouched.

“I could wander through the woods for hours listening to this,” the rabbit monster on the floor agreed.

Their third friend raised two thumbs beside his faceless, black-diamond head. A glint of sunlight bouncing off his facets was the closest they got to an expression.

“Thanks, guys,” Kris said humbly.

“Seriously, dude. You’ve got awesome talent for this stuff. This game is going to kill when it’s finished.”

He fought off the blush building on his face. “It’s not like I spent a whole lot of time on it. I just threw a few chords together and they happened to work.”

“Truly the skills of a master,” the rabbit bowed his head low. “We are not worthy.”

Kris squirmed as his composure slipped. “Come on. It’s not that great. You guys are the ones actually making the game.”

“Yeah, and it wouldn’t be half as good right now without you making the music,” the diamond man asserted.

“So, Barry,” Kris then asked. “How close do you think we are to beta testing?”

Barry removed his headphones and ruffled his curls in thought. “I reckon with a few all-nighters we could have it ready by the end of next week. What do you guys think?” The other two agreed.

“I can finish off the boss sprites by Tuesday night,” Kris said. “I’ll see if changing the colours like Louis suggested looks any better.” He then got up and walked to collect his bag by the front door.

“Sweet as,” Barry grinned. “You heading off already?”

“Yeah; date with Susie tonight. She’ll be around any minute now.”

“Urgh!” Louis pulled on his ears. “An artistic genius AND he has a hot girlfriend! Where the hell is _my_ lucky break?”

“Learn how to talk to girls and you might find it,” Barry teased. “Seeya, Kris. Let me know when you’re done with those sprites.”

Kris navigated down through the college dorms and into the late afternoon air. He slipped his sweater from his backpack over his head. Fall’s chill was setting in. Crossing under browning leaves, Kris walked alongside the road towards the carpark.

Behind him, a police car slowed and blew its siren. “ _Attention, beanpole! Put your hands above your head and shake what your momma gave ya! That’s an order.”_

Kris did no such thing and instead walked towards the car. He opened the passenger door and threw his bag underneath the glove compartment. “Doesn’t this count as abusing your power as a police officer?”

“Hell if I know,” Susie grinned. Her blue uniform complemented the mauve of her scales. She exuded an air of strong authority as she leaned over and kissed Kris. Her tongue in his mouth sent a jolt of excitement through him.

Susie hit the gas as traffic began to build behind her. “So, how’d it go with your friends?”

“Not bad,” Kris answered. “Barry thinks we’ll be ready to have people test the game soon.”

“Sweet! Sign me up for that.”

“And how was your day?”

“Meh. Pretty boring. Nothing but parking tickets and a few speeding fines. Didn’t even get to chase anyone down.”

“Woe the day Ebott City is too peaceful for Officer Susie,” Kris sighed dramatically.

“I must be too good at the job,” Susie cackled.

They continued to joke and laugh as they drove through the city to the restaurant where Kris had made their reservation. Susie stepped out of the car and threw on a plain jacket over her uniform. She pulled her hair free from its professional ponytail, shaking it wild to her liking. Then she offered her arm to Kris. As they walked, elbows interlocked, Kris looked up to the streetlights and gleaming shop signs.

His friends’ praises echoed in his thoughts. A smile adorned his lips. Kris glanced over to Susie. She looked radiant tonight. He found himself falling in love all over again. Susie caught him staring and smiled endearingly back.

They had both struggled from an early age. Their lives before each other had been rife with isolation and a lack of confidence in themselves. Yet, here they were together, arm in arm and having found their path in the world. He had a space all to his own where his skills and passions could shine. She had discovered her calling to protect others with her fierce heart. People valued them. And more importantly, Kris and Susie valued themselves and each other.

Kris realised that he now had many reasons to love life, and he felt lucky to have his greatest reason right here beside him.

* * *

It was a wonderful night for Frisk. Asriel had taken her to a fancy restaurant in Ebott City’s classier side. The food served was divine, served alongside fine wine and a live violin performance. After dessert, Asriel drove her to an outlook on the route towards Mt Ebott.

Frisk clutched her coat tighter around her shoulders as they walked through the evening breeze. From atop the high cliff, they could see the whole city and its shining, multicolour lights. It was a spectacular view. They had it all to themselves.

“Have you had a good time so far?” Asriel asked her.

“Yes. Tonight’s been lovely. Thank you, Asriel.”

He smiled. “Good. I’m glad.”

They stood close to one another. “It’s beautiful out here,” Frisk remarked.

“Not as beautiful as you.”

Frisk blushed, heart fluttering. “You charmer.”

“I wouldn’t call it charming if I’m simply telling the truth.”

Frisk turned to face Asriel and stared into his gentle, clear eyes. He cupped her cheek, brushing her bangs to one side. In the moment, she forgot all about the cold. Only the crickets were around to be heard. Their songs surrounded them from the dark foliage in the distance.

“So,” Frisk finally said, “was there a special reason for tonight? Or do you plan to spoil me like this a lot from now on?”

Asriel flinched for a fraction of a second. His expression fell before his smile returned. “Looks like you caught on to me, huh?” Frisk nodded with a sly smirk. “Should I just get to the point, or can I still do the speech I prepared?”

“I’m listening.”

“Right. Uh… Um…” Asriel twiddled his thumbs and rubbed his nose for a moment. “Was hoping to ease into it a little better than this, but… um…” Frisk waited patiently, urging him on with her eyes.

Then Asriel exhaled. He finally relaxed. “Frisk… The last few years since I met you have been a journey. I never expected our lives to change the way they have, and I’m really glad that I got to share this journey with you. We had good times, and bad times, and we made it through them all together. I feel that I’ve grown closer to you than I ever imagined that I would.”

She saw it coming two hours ago. Yet, tears still wetted Frisk’s eyes as Asriel got down on one knee. “I’ve decided that there’s no one else I’d rather spend the rest of my life with. And though the choice is entirely yours to make, it would make me very happy if you said yes to this.” He held up a small box and opened it. A ring glinted in the car’s headlights.

“Will you marry me, Frisk?”

She pried her hands from her mouth so that he could hear and see her joy. “Yes.” Frisk threw her arms around Asriel. His embrace was strong and rich in love. She kissed him to her heart’s desire.

“What about my parents, though?” she dared to ask.

Asriel smiled. “Don’t worry. Got their blessing.” A weight lifted from her shoulders. “Thank you, Frisk. I really am glad that you said yes.”

Frisk kissed him again, following with another prolonged embrace. She allowed Asriel to slip the ring onto her finger. He then pulled her back into his arms. She dried her face with the front of Asriel’s sweater.

This was everything that she had ever wanted. After a lifetime of feeling alone in the world, Frisk finally had it all. Her brother; her sister; her parents; and the man she loved. They each formed irreplaceable parts of her life. And at long last, they fitted together to form her perfect picture of the world.

* * *

Chara, Kris, and Frisk… Although their lives had drifted apart once more, they knew that it would not be forever. At long last, they each felt whole again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. It's finally done. I never expected this story to come out the way that it had, but I feel proud of it. I'd like to thank Mister. Enigma again for inspiring me to create this story.
> 
> Now that Reconnecting is complete, I look forward to dedicating my time to my next big piece.


End file.
